Oral Cancer Symptoms You Should Watch Out For

Oral Cancer is the 11th most common cancer, in males, in the UK. Do you watch out for oral cancer symptoms?

There has been a 92% increases in cases of oral cancer since the 70s. There are thousands of new cases diagnosed annually. It’s estimated that 91% of the cases are preventable if they are caught early. So how do you identify oral cancer symptoms before they get too serious?

Oral cancer is a cancer that can develop in any part of the mouth, including the tongue, the gums, the palate (roof of the mouth), under the tongue, the skin lining the mouth or the lips. It can be developed out of nowhere, but there are certain things that will encourage its development. Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption will have an impact on your likelihood of developing oral cancer. As well as having HPV and a poor diet. Of course the standard of your dental hygiene will have a lot to do with the risk.

The Symptoms

The most common symptoms of mouth cancer are a sore or ulcer in the mouth that does not heal and pain in the mouth that does not go away. Sometimes, these oral cancer symptoms show before the cancer actually develops. This means that with fast targeting it can be eliminated before it even occurs.

Other symptoms include:

White patches in the mouth (leukoplakia).
Red patches in the mouth (erythroplakia).

erythroplakia

Lump on the lip, tongue or in the mouth or throat.
Unusual bleeding or numbness in the mouth.
Pain when chewing or swallowing.
The feeling that something is caught in the throat.
Unusual bleeding or numbness in the mouth.
Loose teeth or dentures feeling uncomfortable and not fitting properly.

A change in your voice, or speech problems.
Weight loss.
A lump in the neck.

What should you do?It goes without saying, if the cancer also spreads to other parts of your body, you will experience other symptoms.

If you’ve had an ulcer for more than three weeks you should see a dentist.

If you feel like you have any of these oral cancer symptoms you should contact a dentist or a doctor to have a check up. They will be able to identify if there truly is a risk there or not and also tell you the next steps.

Hopefully any concerns you may have are unfounded. However, the key to defeating this cancer is identifying the oral cancer symptoms early. That way you can target it fast and make a full recovery.

If you’re looking for a dentist to contact, or a new dentist in general, you can look on our web directory at www.defactodentists.com.