Looking for Oral Cancer

Oral Cancer Screening is often done by a dentist or doctor at a check-up appointment, routine

physical or dental cleaning. The screening exam includes extraoral and intraoral examination.

Doctors will look for anything that appears abnormal. This could include lesions, like white

patch of cells or red patch of cells. These can be located on the mucous membranes and may

turn into cancer. More than half of oral cancers could have already spread to the lymph system

or other areas of the body by the time they are discovered. Early detection is key. Patients need

to routinely be aware of what is usual and unusual about their mouth and neck.

Oral cancer death cases have been decreasing slowly over the past few years. Cancer is when

malignant cells form in the oral cavity, lips or oropharynx. The risk of developing oral cancer is

affected by the use of tobacco and alcohol.

In a screening examination, the following areas are checked:

-The gums

-The tongue

-the inside lining of the cheeks

-Under the tongue

-The area behind the wisdom teeth

-The front of the roof of the mouth

-The lips

There are different methods to help discover Oral Cancer:

Brush Biopsy-removing some tissue cells with a brush, then checked under a microscope.

Exfoliative Cytology- using a brush, piece of cotton, or a small wooden stick to scrape tissue

cells off the lips or oral cavity, then are checked under a microscope.

Flourescence staining-the mouth is viewed using a special light. The patient uses a fluorescent

mouth rinse, and abnormal tissue appears differently under the light.

Toluidine blue stain-The suspect lesion of coated with a blue dye. The area would stain darker

if it is more likely to be cancer or become cancer.