Fast Facts About Oral Cancer Screening

Cancer remains a stressful situation even with modern health care. Even though cancer is treatable, there are still very many people globally that suffer from this disease. Unfortunately, one of the most common types of cancer that have claimed lives today is oral cancer.

People rarely acknowledge cancer as a condition that can adversely affect one’s health. When it comes to dental health, you should never rule out the possibility of oral cancer. This is why your dentists may have mentioned to you they need for oral cancer screening in Plano, TX.

What Is Oral Cancer Screening?

Oral cancer screening in Plano is a test usually performed by a dental expert, to help detect any signs of cancer or precancerous conditions in your oral cavity. The primary goal for oral cancer screening near you in Plano, TX is to identify any traces of precancerous cells at an early stage where there are higher chances of treating and curing the disease. Every type of cancer is treatable, only if it is caught early enough.

A dentist near you is likely to recommend cancer screening for your oral cavity upon finding any signs that could point true the possibility of precancerous cells in your mouth. For this to be determined, you must be regularly visiting your dentist for dental exams, as they are the perfect opportunity for your dentist to check for any anomalies in your mouth.

Who Needs Oral Cancer Screening?

Over the years, medical experts have still not agreed whether every single person needs oral cancer screening. However, everyone can benefit from this dental service. It is still unclear whether oral cancer screening is beneficial to patients with a normal healthy mouth.

Even then, every single person can benefit from oral cancer screening. When your dentist recommends getting the cancer screenings done, there must be a reason for it. Usually, this decision follows the identification of a peculiar mouth sore, lesion, or tumor that awaken the curiosity of the dentist to seek further understanding of what the problem is.

For you to be a fit candidate for oral cancer screening, it is probably because you are a high-risk patient. Some of the reasons that could make you a high-risk patient for oral cancer include the following:

• Tobacco usage – it is not only the smoking kind. All forms of tobacco usage, including snuffing and chewing, can increase the risk of mouth cancer.
• Excessive consumption of alcohol – if you have been drinking alcohol for a long time, you also become a high-risk patient for oral cancer.
• Previous cancer diagnosis – perhaps you have not had oral cancer before, but a different type of cancer. Even that can increase your chances of getting oral cancer.
• Family history – one of the reasons regular dental visits are important is because they help the dentist gather sufficient information about your oral health, including your family history. If some of your family members have suffered mouth cancer before, you have a high risk of getting it too.

What Is the Goal of Oral Cancer Screening?

The screening is done as a diagnostic test to verify whether or not you have preexisting signs of oral cancer. Having the tests done does not automatically mean that you have oral cancer. It only means that the necessary measures have been taken to fully diagnose your oral problems before offering any treatment. besides, removing a lesion or tumor early enough disallows both progression and reoccurrence.

Important Facts About Oral Cancer and Screening Services

• There are different types – cancer of the mouth comes in different types. The most common types are:
  • Cancer of the lips
  • Throat cancer
  • Cancer of the gums
  • Tongue cancer, to mention a few.
• It is treatable – like most types of cancer, mouth cancer is treatable. It only depends when you caught the disease. The earlier it is detected, the better the chances of treatment.
• Screenings are not treatment – screenings for cancer are not in any way treatments, but tests for the presence of cancer.
• Oral cancer screening is done in different stages. Once there is a suspicion that your mouth has cancer, tissues are taken through biopsy, to the lab for further diagnosis.