The Benefits Of Oral Cancer Screening Tests

By Janine Hughes


Screening is a process used to look for cancer before a person has any symptoms of having one. This helps anyone to find any symptom at early stage. Once abnormal tissues are found earlier it would be easier to treat someone. By the time symptoms appear, it also means that cancer may have started to spread. Experts are also trying to better understand who are more likely to get these types of diseases.

For some types of cancer, the chance of fast recovery is better if the disease has been detected at early stage and treated immediately. Some cancers never cause symptoms and become life threatening, but if found through an oral cancer screening Oregon tests, this type of disease will also be treated before it get worse.

When your dentist does an oral tests, they use various tools to look for mouth sores or discoloration in your mouth. They may also feel the tissues around the mouth for abnormalities or lumps. If they detect any form of abnormality, they will be sending some sample to the laboratory for further testing.

Anything that increases any chance of getting this disease is called a risk factor. Having risk factors does not mean that you have the chance of getting cancer, not having risk factors does not mean that you will not get cancer. The risk factors for oral cancers may include, people who are using tobacco products, heavy alcohol use, chewing betel nuts, being infected with a certain type of human papillomavirus, being exposed to sunlight and being male.

Those who have been diagnosed with this disease usually have the risk factors above. However, you should also not also overlook that there are increasing rates of people who have been diagnosed with these types of cancers who do not possess the risk factors. That is why further screening tests are very essential to maintain overall health.

These cancers may also develop in such areas on your lips and oral cavity. It is possible to develop in the gums, in the tongue, front of the mouth, behind the wisdom teeth, bottom of the mouth under your tongue, the lining inside the cheeks and in other areas.

When the dentist performs the testing process, they will also for some symptoms. They will check if you have white or red patches in the mouth, spot that do not heal or bleed continuously, hard spots or lumps in your mouth and numbness or pain when you bite your teeth.

The best way to avoid this disease is to undergo regular screenings during your checkup. Your dentist would be able to check you during the exam, but they will send sample to the lab to identify if you have the disease. Although this usually occurs in all adults, it is mostly common in older adults. Also, it usually occurs more often in blacks than in whites and in men than in women.

The number of deaths and new cases has slowly decreased. However, the number of new cases caused by specific types of HPV or human papillomavirus infection has also increased. It is often passed from one person to another during any sexual activities.




About the Author: