Oral Cancer Screenings Save Lives!
WHEN PEOPLE GO TO THE DENTIST, it’s generally because they have a toothache, they need some dental work done, or they want to get their teeth cleaned. But this month being Oral Cancer Awareness Month, we want to emphasize more than ever how important regular, twice-yearly dental exams are. Of course, your dentist will make sure you don’t have any cavities, but what you may not realize is that regular dental exams could actually save your life. We love our patients at McOmie Family Dentistry too much not to check them for oral cancer as much as possible.
Throughout life, people get regular exams screening for cancer such as mammograms and colonoscopies. These preventative health care exams are extremely important for detecting any abnormalities–including cancer–early, so they can be treated as soon as possible. These exams save lives. So do oral cancer screenings.
Unfortunately, many people don’t understand that a regular oral cancer screening is just as important as these other preventative exams. We want our patients to know that coming in to see us every six months isn’t just to make sure you don’t have cavities; it can actually save your life.
WE HAVE A TELESCOPE! This is an instrument that helps us detect oral cancer earlier and easier. If oral cancer is caught in stage one treatment is simple and highly successful. If oral cancer is caught in stage 3 or 4, the 5-year survival rate drops to 15%. Here at McOmie Family Dentistry, we want to do everything we can to make sure nothing slips past us. Dr. Mark McOmie does oral cancer screenings on every patient. They do this for free! Insurance won’t pay for it and they think it is the right thing to do. Even if you have are not a patient of McOmie Family Dentistry you can still come in for a free screening anytime. It is painless and easy to be screened.
What You Need To Know About Oral Cancer
Some people think oral cancer is rare, but here are the facts: approximately 132 individuals are diagnosed with oral cancer each day in the United States alone, and someone dies of oral cancer every hour. There are 400,000 people throughout the world who are diagnosed with oral cancer every year–in the U.S. alone, that’s about 100 new cases every day. It is a particularly deadly cancer–only about half of the oral cancer patients survive five years past their initial diagnosis. Chattanooga has a higher than the national average of oral cancers. But what we really want you to remember is that early detection saves lives. When oral cancer is detected early, survival rates increase by 80 to 90 percent! This can NOT be emphasized enough!
These statistics are frightening, but there is some good news: early detection of oral cancer can boost survival rates by 80 to 90 percent. The reason oral cancer is so harmful is that many patients aren’t diagnosed until late in the game. By raising awareness about this disease and the need for regular screenings, we hope to help stop that from happening.