Yorkshire Dentist Offering Free Oral Cancer Screening In November
A dental practice in Yorkshire is offering free oral cancer screening in November as part of Mouth Cancer Awareness Month.
Perfect 32 in Beverley,East Yorkshire is offering free screening for five days in November to raise awareness of mouth cancer and encourage patients to attend screening sessions; the test takes just a few minutes and there is no pain involved.
The practice will also be handing out information packs about mouth cancer to educate patients about causes and risk factors and symptoms of the disease.
Mouth cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK, with more than 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year; unfortunately around 50 per cent of those who are diagnosed with the disease die from it and this is largely due to the fact that most cases are diagnosed when cancer is advanced and it is difficult to treat.
Mouth cancer now kills three times more people than cervical cancer, yet there is a government screening initiative for cervical cancer and public awareness of mouth cancer is much lower.
Practice manager of Perfect 32, Nicki Rowland, said that screening is very important, especially as the figures for survival make for unpleasant reading; unlike other forms of cancer, there has been little improvement in survival rates and the Perfect 32 team is eager to get people involved in the Mouth Cancer Awareness Month campaign and encourage people to be vigilant and look out for the warning signs, which include red or white patches in the mouth, sores that take a long time to heal and lumps or swelling in the mouth or throat.
This will be the fifth consecutive year the practice has offer free mouth cancer tests. Screening is one of the most effective ways of diagnosing mouth cancer at an early stage, when the chance of survival is up to 90 per cent higher.
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