Exciting New Advances In Detecting Oral Cancer

By J. Douglas Wooddell, DDS

J. Douglas Wooddell, DDS Gentle Dentistry, PC

. https://welovehealthysmiles.com/

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Exciting New Advances In Detecting Oral Cancer

Although many people think that oral cancer is rare, the reality is that it is not. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 39,500 cases diagnosed in 2015 alone. Most oral cancer about 90% is squamous-cell cancer. The good news is that the survival rate is 80-90% if the cancer is caught early, but the bad news is that most oral cancers aren't caught until the late stages, so the actual death rate is much higher about 43% of oral cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis.

One of the reasons oral cancer is often missed until it is too late is that too many people don't see their dentist regularly. An oral cancer screening is an important part of a regular dental checkup in most practices. Since oral cancer usually doesn't cause symptoms until it is in the late stages, this screening can literally be a lifesaver, because the dentist could catch the disease much earlier than the patients would notice it themselves.

If the dentist notices a potential problem, there are a variety of ways that he/she can do further diagnosis. One of the newest and most exciting ways of doing this is with the Salimark salivary diagnostic test. The dentist simply collects the patient's saliva, submits the sample to a lab, and it is tested for chemicals in the saliva called biomarkers that would indicate if the patient has squamous-cell cancer. In less than a week, the results will come back. This is a quick, painless, and easy way to screen any suspicious areas for the most common type of oral cancer.

There are other ways to diagnose oral cancer as well, including sending off a biopsy. But the bottom line is, the best way to identify oral cancer and deal with it in its early stages, when it is most treatable, is through a dental examination.