NHS Bedfordshire Urging Patients to Attend Oral Cancer Screening
NHS Bedfordshire is supporting the British Dental Health Foundation’s annual oral cancer campaign by spreading a simple message: if in doubt, get checked out.
Mouth Cancer Action Month has been running throughout the UK during the course of November and dentists across the country have been offering free screening sessions and providing information about the causes and symptoms of oral cancer.
Around 6,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK and the disease kills more people than cervical and testicular cancer combined. However, many people are still unaware of the risk factors and symptoms and as a result of this, most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage and the mortality rate is around 50 percent. Early detection and treatment can dramatically improve survival chances and this is why the BDHF has decided to promote screening checks with the tag-line, ‘if in doubt, get checked out’.
Sue Jordan, oral health promotion team manager from Bedfordshire Community Dental Services, said that it is vital that people are aware of the symptoms and signs they should be looking out for. Signs of mouth cancer include ulcers and sores that are slow to heal, red and white patches in the mouth and abnormal swellings in the mouth or throat.
As well as highlighting the symptoms of mouth cancer, health experts are also eager to educate people about the causes and risk factors of oral cancer so that they can take steps to reduce their risk. Causes of oral cancer include drinking alcohol on a regular basis, smoking and exposure to the Human Papilloma Virus.
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