Oral Cancer
>> Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Main Causes:-
1) Heavy use of tobacco.
2) Heavy use of alcohol.
Symptoms:-
1) Oral Cancer could look like a common ulcer, cold sore or a discoloration of tissue.
2) If you have any type of lesion in your mouth, or on your lips, that doesn’t heal within two weeks, or a difficulty in swallowing for a prolonged period of time, it is very important to see your dentist right away.
How it can be detected?
The FDA has recently approved a device to detect oral cancer called a VELscope.VELscope is non-invasive and uses a bright blue light to emphasize any changes in the mouth that a dentist or hygienist could not normally see.
Treatment:-
If your dentist does find a suspicious lesion in your mouth, he / she might remove it, but will most likely send you to a specialist for a removal and biopsy, which is a painless procedure.
If oral cancer is detected early enough, it could possibly be treated with surgery alone.
What is Biopsy?
A biopsy is the process of removing a small piece of tissue for a pathologist to determine, under microscopic examination, if it is cancerous. A soft tissue biopsy is the most common type of biopsy used in detecting oral cancer.
For more details on dental health visit http://www.creatingsmiles.ca.