Family Dentistry in Madison, New Jersey is pleased to share Oral Cancer Awareness month with our patients, as April is a time when the dental community reaches out to make patients aware of the importance of oral cancer screenings. Oral cancer awareness is important to Dr. Monila Reheman because this disease claims the lives of people every hour of every day. Dr. Reheman and her dental team want to make a dent in that statistic by working with our patients to reduce those rates. Because oral cancer is most effectively treated when discovered in the early stages, we offer oral cancer screening at every dental checkup for our patients.
We feel these exams are vital, because you may not know you have this disease in the early stage as you may not be experiencing signs or symptoms. Dr. Reheman knows what to look for and can detect this disease during your routine exam. So what symptoms do we look for, and which you might want to be aware of?
— Persistent hoarseness
— Numbness in the face or oral region
— A persistent ear ache on one side
— A white or red patch in the mouth (or small ulcer) that lingers past two weeks
— A lump in the inside of the mouth or neck
— Pain when swallowing, speaking or chewing
In the past, people who were most at risk for oral cancer were those who tobacco or heavily consumed alcohol. Today, more young people are affected because of HPV (the human papillomavirus) which is a sexually transmitted disease.
If oral cancer goes undetected for too long the survival rate among those who are diagnosed is low, with only a little above 50% surviving past five years from the diagnosis. This is why we want to provide oral cancer screenings–to catch the disease early when treatment can be effective. Thankfully, we can often see and feel the tissue changes in the early stages while it is still small.
If you have any concerns, or to schedule a visit with Dr. Reheman, we invite you to call our Family Dentistry team in Madison, New Jersey at 973-360-9800 today!
