Oral Cancer Screening

As part of your dental check-ups, your dentist examines the skin on your lips and the inside of your mouth for signs of oral diseases. The most serious of these is oral cancer. There are also other diseases that your dentist can diagnose and treat. Early detection of oral cancer can mean the difference between life and death, and its symptoms are visible to a dentist before they are noticeable to the patient. About 3400 of Canadians were diagnosed with oral cancer in 2010, and about 1,150 died from it. An oral cancer exam is one more important reason to schedule regular dental check-ups. The oral cancer exam takes only minutes and is painless.