Tyneside Dental Professionals Promote Oral Cancer Campaign

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Dental professionals in Tyneside have been doing their bit to promote the British Dental Health Foundation’s Mouth Cancer Action Month campaign.

Professionals in the area have been providing information about the causes and symptoms of mouth cancer and surgeries have been offering free screening checks throughout November.

The oral health promotion team has been out in force in Gateshead, Sunderland, parts of County Durham and South Tyneside, to talk to people about mouth cancer and hand out leaflets with information about the disease. Dentists have also been offering free screening tests.

Oral health promotion team manager at South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, Joanne Purvis, said that the campaign is really important because the number of cases of oral cancer has increased by almost 50 percent in the last decade alone. She added that dentists are in an ideal position to identify early warning signs and improve survival rates, as early detection and treatment can increase survival rates by 90 percent.

Currently, mortality rates stand at around 50 percent because most cases are not diagnosed until an advanced stage, as people are largely unaware of the symptoms they should be looking out for. The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘if in doubt, get checked out’ and dentists across the country are inviting patients to attend free screening tests. The tests are very quick and painless and they could save many lives.

 

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