Warning Signs of Oral Cancer Indicating You Are at Risk

Oral cancer is a condition developing in the tissues of the mouth or throat. Oral cancer can develop in the tongue, gums, tonsils, and other areas of the mouth. Every year over 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer, with men more likely to develop this condition. However, there are techniques to minimize your risks if you develop any oral cancer symptoms.

Over the last three decades, the number of fatalities for oral cancer has decreased. As with cancers of other types receiving prompt oral cancer treatment by getting the condition diagnosed early improves your chances of survival. If you think you are at risk, we suggest you continue reading to learn more about the dangers of oral cancer besides the signs, symptoms, and causes.

What Are the Warning Signs of Oral Cancer?

The signs of oral cancer can vary between patients, just as it is familiar with other types of cancer. Some of the most familiar warning signs include mouth sores or pain that doesn’t subside. Oral cancer may also appear as red-and-white patches on the gums, tonsils, and mouth lining.

Other indications of oral cancer may include swelling in your neck, lump in your cheek, challenges when chewing or swallowing, trouble when moving your jaw or tongue, lousy breath, and weight loss.

Factors Increasing Your Risks of Oral Cancer

The precise reasons for oral cancer aren’t clear with medical researchers. Still, some scientists believe cancers begin after damage occurs or mutations in the genetic code controlling cell growth and death. Factors that identified as increasing the risk of oral cancer include:

Smoking cigarettes, pipes, cigars, or using smokeless tobacco and chewing tobacco are the most common causes of oral cancer. Excessive consumption of alcohol also causes people using the substances to be diagnosed with oral cancer. In addition, cancers linked to HPV and generally found in the back of the throat, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. Finally, excessive exposure to sunlight on the lips increases your chances of developing oral cancer.

Although cases of oral cancer are decreasing, afflictions due to HPV are increasing steadily. Other risk factors of oral cancer involve being over 45 and endangered to radiation or with other kinds of head or neck cancer.

How to Determine Whether You Have the Risks of Oral Cancer?

When you visit your dentist for routine dental exams, you can expect the dentist to give you oral cancer screening while conducting the examination. The dentist examines portions of the mouth described earlier to determine whether there are any unusual lesions or bumps indicating signs of oral cancer. Your dentist does not diagnose oral cancer but only looks for warning signs. If you have any suspicious lumps or lesions in your mouth, they will likely refer you to a specialist for further diagnosis by conducting a biopsy and sending it for lab testing. You must understand oral cancer diagnosis in no way means you have cancer in your mouth. It is just a technique to detect oral cancer early when treatments for the condition deliver the best outcomes. It is why dentists consider oral cancer screenings important and examine all adult patients visiting them for exams and cleanings.

How to Deal with Positive Signs of Oral Cancer?

If you have a confirmed diagnosis of oral cancer, rest assured many oral cancer treatment options are available depending on the location of cancer and the extent to which it has progressed. The goal of early treatment is to cure the condition. However, if cancer in your mouth has progressed, specialists aim to stall further growth and help ease symptoms like pain or challenges eating, speaking, or swallowing.

Radiotherapy, surgery, and chemotherapy, besides photodynamic therapy, are the most common treatments available for oral cancer, and the specialist helping you determines which treatment is best suited to cure or control the disease in your mouth.

If you are diligent with your dental hygiene and visit your dentist every six months, you can stay on top of any signs of oral cancer you might have. Your dentist detects the issues by conducting various tests and only recommends a biopsy if they suspect suspicious lesions of lumps in your mouth. As a result, oral cancer fatalities are low, and in most cases, the condition is comfortably treatable when detected in the early stages. Therefore now that you know the warning signs which indicate you may be at risk of oral cancer, you must discuss this subject with your dentist to undergo the examination during your next dental appointment.