At The Hills Dental Spa in Austin we encourage people to come in twice a year for a dental examination and cleaning. Â If you forego twice-yearly dental checkups because you don’t believe you have any decay, perhaps getting an oral cancer screening is a more convincing reason.
In the last few decades, lung and breast cancer have attracted a lot of public attention. There is relatively less awareness of oral cancer even though it claims almost 10,000 lives every year in the United States. If you smoke or have tested positive for HPV, you have a higher risk for developing oral cancer.
At The Hills Dental Spa, we work to raise awareness of oral cancer and the importance of early diagnosis. Courtesy of the CDC, Oral Cancer Foundation, and Johns Hopkins Medicine, here are 5 important things to know about oral (mouth) and oropharyngeal (back of mouth and throat) cancers.
1. About 80% of men and women with oral cancer use some variety of tobacco (cigarettes, chewing tobacco, pipes).
2. 40% of people who receive late-stage diagnosis of oral cancer pass away within five years. The survival rate for early stage diagnosis is 90%.
3. In many cases, it is practically impossible for the individual to detect oral and oropharyngeal cancers because they can produce inconspicuous symptoms or no symptoms at all. Any abnormality in the mouth or throat, even if small and painless, should be analyzed by a dentist or doctor.
4. HPV (the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in the US) is the most common cause of oropharyngeal cancer. Of the copious strains of HPV, HPV16 is the one most often linked to oropharyngeal cancer.
5. Black males have a higher risk of dying from oral cancer than whites.
At The Hills Dental Spa in Austin, the health of our patients is paramount: physical as well as dental. Our services include general and cosmetic dentistry. Schedule an appointment today!
Contact The Hills Dental Spa:
512-347-0044
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
6836 Bee Cave Road, Bldg 1 Ste 300
Austin, Texas
78746
