This April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month. At Healthy Smiles Family Dental, located in Salem, OR, Drs. Na Xu and Mark Thomas want to help keep your mouth healthy and happy. That’s why besides coming in for your bi-annual visits, we encourage you to be proactive about your oral health. Prevention is the key to a healthy and long life. If you have any strange anomalies in your mouth, don’t wait to make an appointment.
If anything new or strange appears in your mouth, and it doesn’t go away after 2-3 weeks, make an appointment. This is often an indicator of something more serious going on. Even more so if this problem is reoccurring. Be on the lookout for these symptoms:
Sores that take over 14 days to heal, strange coloring of the soft tissue, abnormalities that bleed easily, bumps or hard spots in the mouth, and a lump on the outside of the neck that has been there for at least two weeks.
When it comes to HPV-caused oropharyngeal cancer, symptoms may vary. In this case, a patient might experience a sore throat or hoarseness, constant coughing, lump on the neck, problems swallowing, or an ache in one or both ears.
There are a lot of risk factors for oral cancer. The biggest ones are heavy drinking and smoking. Chewing tobacco is also extremely bad for your mouth. Another big risk factor is contracting the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus 16.
If you have any or all of these symptoms, make an appointment with Healthy Smiles Family Dental ASAP. We are located in Salem, OR. To schedule an appointment with Drs. Na Xu and Mark Thomas, visit our website or call 503-385-1185.
Comments
Post a Comment