Tips from Family Dental Practice Smiles by Design
April is Oral Cancer Prevention Month! Dr. Kristyn Barker and the Smiles by Design family dental practice want to share important information about oral cancer to help reduce your risk. Oral Cancer Prevention Month was created to help spread awareness about this disease.
As with any cancer, early detection is key to survival. Dentists are often on the frontlines of detecting oral cancer and are key to helping patients recognize symptoms and get treatment. Screening for signs of oral cancer is a routine part of the bi-annual exam at your family dental practice.
What is Oral Cancer?
Oral and oropharyngeal cancers are cancers that occur in the head and neck. Oral cancer can include mouth cancer, throat cancer, tongue cancer, and tonsil cancer. Each year there are more than 58,000 people who are diagnosed with some form of oral cancer.
Of those people diagnosed with oral cancer, approximately 80-90% will survive. However, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation one person dies every hour, every day from a form of oral cancer. These cancers affect twice as many men as women and are more common in White people than in Black people, although no one is immune.
Types of Oral Cancer
The most common types of oral cancer include mouth cancer, throat cancer, tongue cancer, and tonsil cancer.
Mouth Cancer
Mouth cancer can develop in any part of the mouth, including the inside of the cheeks, the roof of the mouth, the gums, the lips, and under the tongue. Cancer can appear on the skin on either the lower or upper lip. It is most common on the lower lip.
Symptoms of mouth cancer include mouth sores that aren’t healing, pain, difficulty swallowing, loose teeth, white or red patches in the mouth, lumps or growths in your mouth, and ear pain.
Treatment for this type of cancer is usually surgery.
Throat Cancer
Throat cancer typically starts in the squamous cells which line the pharynx and larynx. Cancer in these areas can occur behind the nose, behind the mouth, and at the bottom of the pharynx. In the larynx, cancer can develop in the voice box as well as the parts of the throat that control swallowing and breathing.
Symptoms for throat cancer include difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice that lasts three or more weeks, coughing or coughing up blood, a sore throat that doesn’t improve, neck pain, ear pain, and abnormal or high-pitched breathing sounds.
Throat cancer can be treated with radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted pill therapy.
Tongue Cancer
Tongue cancer can occur either in the mouth, or down the throat. Detection and treatment of cancer for the section of your tongue in your mouth is typically found much quicker by a dentist or doctor than cancer affecting the tongue farther down the throat. Tongue cancer that is in the throat is called oropharyngeal tongue cancer and it can grow undetected for longer before symptoms appear.
Symptoms can typically be seen in sooner on the part of the tongue in the main part of your mouth. A major symptom of tongue cancer is a sore that won’t heal. Swollen lymph nodes can also be a symptom of tongue cancer.
Other symptoms can include lumps and red or white patches on the tongue, difficulty with chewing or swallowing, numbness, swelling, or a chronic sore throat. A change in voice and swelling in the jaw can also be symptoms of throat cancer.
Treatment for tongue cancer usually involves surgery and radiation, although chemotherapy and drug therapy targeted to tongue cancer may also be used.
Tonsil Cancer
While not a commonly known cancer, tonsil cancer affects 1 in 60 men and 1 in 140 women. There are two types of tonsil cancer, one is caused by the Human Pamplona Virus (HPV) and the other is caused by lymphomas. Tonsil cancer caused by HPV is typically easier to treat than lymphomas. Given its proximity to the lymph nodes, early detection and treatment of tonsil cancer offers the best chance for survival.
Tonsil cancer symptoms include trouble swallowing, speaking, or chewing, a sore or ulcer in the back of your mouth, mouth pain, ear pain, a lump in the neck, sore throat, and even bad breath.
Treatment can include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted and immunotherapy drugs.
Risk Factors
There are three main risk factors for oral cancer including tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, and HPV infection. It’s important to know and understand these risk factors so you can take steps to reduce your chances of developing oral cancer.
Tobacco Use
Tobacco use is associated with causing cancer throughout the body. However, smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and using chewing tobacco is the single largest risk factor for oral cancer. Tobacco is filled with more than 70 cancer-causing chemicals and placement of smoking materials or chewing tobacco directly in your mouth puts you at a greater risk of oral cancer.
Excessive Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol can irritate the cells inside your mouth, throat, tongue, and tonsils. Chronic or excessive alcohol use makes the cells in your mouth more vulnerable to cancer. Heavy drinkers are at five times greater risk for oral cancer and are at twice the risk for larynx cancers. In addition to an increased risk for oral cancer, excessive alcohol use can cause other health issues.
HPV Infection
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. There are 40 types of HPV that can be spread through direct sexual contact including the mouth and throat. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 10% of men and 3.6% of women have oral HPV. While most people clear the infection within a year, it can remain in the body, including the oral cavity.
The HPV vaccine protects people from this virus and is highly effective—close to 100%— in preventing HPV infection.
Preventing Oral Cancer
Living a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your risk for oral and other cancers.
Avoid Tobacco
As the greatest risk factor in developing oral cancer, avoiding tobacco is key. If you currently smoke, quitting will help reduce your risk for 12 types of cancer including oral cancer. Within 5-10 years of quitting your chances of getting cancer in the mouth, throat or larynx drops by half. If you are diagnosed with oral cancer, quit smoking. Survivors of oral cancer who still smoke are more likely to die from that cancer. In Kansas, you can get resources to help you quit smoking from the KanQuit website and helpline.
Use Alcohol in Moderation
No matter what type of alcohol you typically consume, moderation is key. There are no better or worse types of alcohol that contribute to oral cancer, only the frequency and amount consumed. Binge drinking or heavy drinking (defined as eight or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more for men) raise your risk for oral cancer. Limit alcohol consumption to one drink or less for women and two drinks or less for men.
Vaccinate Against HPV
The CDC recommends vaccination for HPV at ages 11-12 and through age 26. HPV vaccination prevents new HPV infections, and is most effective when given before any possible exposure to HPV.
Taking these steps to prevent oral cancer will help reduce your risk for other cancers.
How Your Family Dental Practice Can Help
Dr. Kristyn Barker will examine the inside of your mouth, gums, lips, and tongue as part of your regular bi-annual dental exam. It’s important if you notice anything different in your mouth or are experiencing any unusual symptoms to talk to the dentist, or your primary care physician right away.
During the screening, your dentist will look inside your mouth for sores, patches, or unusual lumps. They will also feel the tissue inside your mouth to check for lumps. The dentist may also examine your throat and neck for lumps. If you have questions about this process, talk to your dentist. These screenings are painless, fast, and essential to early detection.
Early detection is key to any cancer diagnosis and oral cancer is no exception. When caught early, most oral cancers have a 90% survival rate according to the American Cancer Society. This means that in five years, most people diagnosed with oral cancer will still be alive. These numbers do depend on the location and stage of cancer.
Be sure to set up and attend your bi-annual dental appointments. If you notice any issues between your visits, call for a special appointment or contact your primary care physician.
Schedule Your Appointment
Take charge of your oral health by reducing your risk factors for oral cancer. Additionally, be sure you are having exams at your family dental practice at least twice each year. If you have concerns about an area in your mouth, bring it to the attention of Dr. Barker, or your primary care provider.
Contact Smiles by Design at 316-263-6343 to schedule your next appointment.
