Oral Cancer Screening
McMinnville, OR
 How To Screen For Oral Cancer
No one ever wants to get cancer, especially the cancer of the mouth. If you have found yourself dealing with pain or sores in your mouth, you will need to come and see our Oral Pathologists at Hometown Dental. If we do discover oral cancer inside of your mouth, then our team will get started on taking care of you right away.
But how do we screen for oral cancer, and what can you do to make sure the oral cancer is caught early? After all, early prevention gives you the best survival rate and allows you to stop the spread of cancer cells before they get out of control.
An Oral Pathology Exam
This exam is much like a regular dental exam, just without the teeth cleaning and plaque scraping. Instead, one of our dentists looks at your mouth and tries to find any cancer issues that are inside of your mouth.
They look around for any patches of red or white skin, and they move their hands around the inside of your mouth for any lumps. Additionally, they also can have you take an oral cancer screening dye. The blue dye gets into your mouth and if any cancer cells get caught, then they will appear blue.
Our dentists might also shine a screening light into your mouth. The light will cause any abnormal tissue to appear darkly colored and makes any problems very easy to see.
What If We Find Something
If our dentists find something, then you will need to come back to our offices and we will note the size and position of the lesions. If they are starting to grow or change, then we will take a biopsy and give a cell sample to a lab to see if it is cancer.
After that is done, if the cancer diagnosis is confirmed, we will work with your doctors to create a full treatment plan. Fighting oral cancer is no different than fighting any other type of cancer. You will need to undergo chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments.
How Can You Reduce the Risk of Oral Cancer?
One of the best ways you can reduce oral cancer is to cut back on two very bad habits. The first one is drinking and the second is smoking. Tobacco can cause some head and neck cancers, and if you are smoking and chewing it every day, your risk goes up. Additionally, heavy drinking is an irritant to your mouth and can also cause oral cancer.
In addition to cutting out those bad habits, you will also need to come to see our dentists. Missing a checkup means missing a chance for our oral pathologist to work with you and check your mouth. So do not skip the checkups and we will be able to maintain our diligence for screening for oral cancer.
Oral cancer is not something that you want to skimp on. Instead, you could contact our team at and we will be able to perform the correct screenings. Set up your dental appointment by calling 971-287-3477 and soon you will be in the chair and doing the screening. |
