Oral Cancer Screenings in Erlanger, KY

Did you know that oral cancer steals the life of one American every hour? We don’t hear much about oral cancer, but close to 53,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or oropharyngeal cancer this year.  Only half of patients diagnosed with oral cancer will survive longer than five years. Because it is often detected in the later stages, oral cancer’s mortality rate is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, brain, liver, kidney, or ovarian cancer. Treatment for oral cancer often causes disfiguration and lessens the patient’s quality of life.

The good news is Dr. Henry can in many cases see or feel precursor tissue changes or the actual cancer while it still in its earliest stages.  All adults should have an annual oral cancer exam because a quarter of oral cancer victims are non-smokers, don’t drink, and have no lifestyle factors to heighten their oral cancer risk.   Men over 40 and women between the ages of 20 and 40 are the most prone to the disease. Patients with lifestyle risks, including any tobacco use, daily alcohol consumption, viral infections, autoimmune deficiencies like HIV, and diabetes may need more frequent evaluations.

The screening involves the dentist or dental hygienist looking and feeling both sides of the neck, under the jawbone, lips, gums, under and around the tongue, roof of mouth, inside the cheeks and the back of the throat.  

While the statistics on oral cancer are discouraging, when the disease is found and treated in the early stages it has an 80 to 90-percent cure rate.   Dr. Henry is always happy to do a free oral cancer examination.  Please contact us to reserve a time or you can visit www.checkyourmouth.org for information on how to do a self discover exam.