At every recall exam ( or as some call it 'check up”) we inspect your mouth for oral cancer.
The visual and tactile exam is not a guarantee that every cancer or pre-cancer will be caught, especially in those that rise from HPV viral infections. While no screening technique for any cancer is 100% effective, this exam is painless, inexpensive , non invasive, involves no exposure to anything which has long-term harm like radiation exposure, and can be accomplished quickly in just a few minutes - often while you are at your dental professional for other purposes anyway. If your professional does not do this screening automatically, ASK FOR IT.
Our office uses a modern new light -emitting machine , invented in Canada, called a Velscope.
It is used to help us screen for abnormal cells in your mouth. This means the exam is an aid , or a quality control check, on top of the visual and tactile exam we do.
Please ask us about it or call us to schedule your oral cancer exam at 613-967-6453.
If you are told that because you are young, a non smoker, or for other reasons you do not need screening, you are talking to someone who is not current in their knowledge.
The fastest growing segment of the oral cancer population are young, non smoking individuals who come to the disease from the HPV16 virus which also causes cervical cancers. Since it is the most common sexually transferred infection in the US, the CDC has said that between 50-80 % of the entire US population will have an HPV infection at some point in their lifetime. People with infections have no symptoms, so you will never know that you have been exposed or that your body has cleared it. Therefore, if you are old enough to have engaged in sexual contact, you are old enough to require an oral cancer examination regularly.
It is your health and your life that is being protected by being proactive.
See more at: http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/discovery-diagnosis/how_do_you_know.php#sthash.nZWLt3XR.dpuf
What we think about mouth cancer
- One person in ten is unaware of the threat of mouth cancer
- Almost half are more worried about mouth cancer than any other type of cancer
- One in four believes they are at risk from mouth cancer
- More than one in four are unaware smoking is leading cause of mouth cancer
- Almost half support calls for plain packaging
- Almost two-thirds support calls for minimum alcohol pricing
- Three times as many people support the HPV jabs for boys than are opposed to it
- Very few people able to identify HPV as leading cause of mouth cancer
- More than one in five men think HPV can be transmitted like a common cold
- Almost half believe investing in dentistry would help to reduce cancer incidences
- More than one in two think e-cigarettes are safe alternative to smoking; half are aware shisha pipes aren’t safe; two thirds are aware chewing tobacco isn’t safe; around half are aware smokeless tobacco isn’t safe
- Six in ten of us know somebody with cancer