[Randal P. Swartwood DDS](http://www.swartwooddental.com), the leading dental clinic in the Syracuse area for preventative dentistry, is now offering thorough oral health screenings for their patients. These oral health screenings check for various medical conditions so that the can be identified and treated as early as possible. The oral screenings include an oral cancer exam as well.
Every year, more than 30,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed, and it's unfortunate that more than 7,000 of these cases end in death," explains Dr. Randal Swartwood, who belongs to the American Dental Association. But with yearly oral cancer exams, it can be diagnosed easily and the prognosis is excellent when we catch it in its earliest stages."
An oral cancer exam should be done by a dentist, because the usual signs of cancer are not so easily detected. Oral cancers can occur in many places, and these include the face, lips, mouth, tongue, gums, throat, and salivary glands.
One of the most important things to consider is that the vast majority of oral cancers are associated with behavior that can be modified," Dr. Swartwood points out. Part of our job is to provide education and literature on making lifestyle changes, so that the patient can succeed in quitting smoking and excessive alcohol consumption."
During a routine oral cancer exam, the dentist checks for warnings signs that may indicate oral cancer. These include red patches and sores, white slightly raised lesions called leukoplakia that can appear inside the mouth, and lumps that may signal the onset of cancer. There are several types of oral cancer, such as melanoma, adenocarcinoma, and teratoma, and the most common is malignant squamous cell carcinoma.
The oral health exam is completely painless, and it starts with a visual examination that may include the use of lasers which can find signs of cancer that are not visible to the naked eye," explains Dr. Swartwood. If any abnormalities are found and the initial treatment plan doesn't work, then a biopsy of the lesion may be performed so that the exact stage and grade of the oral lesion is determined."
Malignant types of cancer in one place may spread easily to other locations in the oral region, which exacerbates the danger to the patient. The treatment for the oral cancer depends greatly on the particulars of the case, but it may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and excision.
What patients need to understand is that cancer is just one of the conditions we screen for in our dental exams, and we also look for other dental issues that can get worse over time," asserts Dr. Swartwood. It's why we're committed to preventive dentistry, because these simple exams can keep problems from getting worse, and early detection makes treatments more likely to succeed."
