Best Calgary dentists strongly encourage visiting the dentist regularly or once every six months to have your teeth and mouth thoroughly examined and cleaned. Regular check-ups not only maintain oral health and keep it healthy but it can also help identify or detect any oral complications that the patient may be experiencing.
Early diagnosis is vital in curing an oral complication because if the issue is still at its initial stage, proper treatment is still very much viable and effective. One example of an oral complication or disease that benefits so well from early diagnosis is oral cancer.
Early detection of oral cancer is crucial because it significantly increases the survival rate of the patient and it translates to satisfactory clinical outcomes and cure. Mouth cancer or lesions are easiest to remove and cure at an early stage. This is basically why oral cancer screening is so important and why it’s administered in most regular Calgary SE dentist check-ups.
What Happens During a Calgary Dentist Oral Cancer Screening?
During an oral cancer screening, an extremely thorough basic exam will be conducted by a dentist in Calgary wherein they will examine and check all the parts of your mouth. This includes your lips (both outside and inside), your gums, your tongue (from all sides and underneath), the insides of your cheeks, the roof of your mouth, and the back of your throat.
For denture-wearing individuals, the denture will have to be taken out so the Calgary dentist can check the tissue beneath them. Another technique that dentists in SE Calgary like to do is putting one finger in the patient’s mouth under their tongue and using a couple of fingers to feel the skin under their chin in order to feel the tissue between them.
An oral cancer screening should take less than 5 minutes. Since the goal is to search for lumps and spots and anything unusual or out of the ordinary, the dentist might also feel underneath the patient’s jaw. Anything unusual about the spit that covers all the pink parts inside the mouth is also observed.
These are pretty common acts in most oral cancer screening procedures but some dental practices may go a little more in-depth and incorporate other oral cancer screening tests such as having the patient rinse their mouth with a blue dye before the exam and so on.
The best thing to keep in mind is that if you yourself ever observe or notice anything out of the ordinary or suspiciously unusual in your mouth, do not hesitate to visit an affordable Calgary dentist as soon as possible to have your mouth checked especially if you are part of the people with a high risk of oral cancer.
Calgary Dentist list of people with a high risk of oral cancer:
Some people who participate and do the following habits or acts have a higher chance of contracting oral cancer thus making them better candidates for regular oral cancer screenings:
- Smoking or chewing tobacco
- Regularly drinking too much alcohol
- Spending a lot of time in the sun
- Participating in oral sex where some type of human papillomavirus (HPV) may be acquired
- Chewing betel quid, a smokeless tobacco mixture
- Have had oral cancer in the past
Since these factors increase the likelihood of contracting oral cancer, it is beneficial to act fast and visit the dentist regularly for oral cancer screenings to have your mouth examined. It would also be beneficial to talk to your doctor about the ways to reduce your risks of oral cancer.
For bookings and inquiries, contact Inglewood Family Dental at (403) 265-5888 to request an appointment! We provide comprehensive dental cleanings and check-ups that include oral cancer screening.
Inglewood Family Dental
Phone: 403-265-5888
Address: 1420 9 Ave SE #24
City: Calgary
State: Alberta
Postal Code: T2G 0T5
Country: Canada
Maps: https://www.google.com/maps?cid=13000106521288127035