Oral Health Foundation encourages simple checks to spot mouth cancer warning signs
The Oral Health Foundation is encouraging people to perform simple checks at home to spot early warning signs of mouth cancer.
The charity, which has been raising awareness of oral cancer as part of its annual Mouth Cancer Action Month campaign, is urging the public to be mouth aware to ensure that more cases of oral cancer are diagnosed early.
According to research conducted during Mouth Cancer Action Month, which ran throughout November, 64% of adults have never checked themselves for symptoms of mouth cancer and 27% of people don’t know any of the main symptoms.
Dr Nigel Carter OBE, chief executive, explained that quick and easy checks can save lives, especially at a time when routine dental appointments are not widely available. Early diagnosis can increase survival rates by up to 90% yet many cases in the UK are diagnosed at an advanced stage.
This is often due to the fact that people don’t know which signs to look out for. Checking the mouth can flag issues, such as lumps and swelling, red and white patches and slow-healing mouth ulcers and sores, all of which are possible symptoms of mouth cancer.
The charity is promoting simple 45-second oral checks, which involve looking around the mouth and feeling for any abnormal symptoms or changes to the soft tissue. Dr Carter stated that many more cases could be detected and diagnosed early if people were aware of the warning signs.
In addition to ulcers that take longer than 2 weeks to heal and lumps and swelling, symptoms include difficulty swallowing, persistent hoarseness and a sore throat and numbness in the mouth or throat.
The Oral Health Foundation is encouraging anyone who has concerns about potential symptoms to seek advice from their dentist or GP as soon as possible to boost the chances of early diagnosis and treatment.
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