Oral cancer screening is a medical examination that helps a dentist or a doctor to identify signs of cancer and other precancerous conditions in its early stage and find a cure while there is the chance.
Oral cancer screening in Boca Raton is one of the procedures that is usually done during a dental checkup. A dentist in Boca Raton, FL might choose to run some other tests to check the cells in your mouth for any abnormalities.
Why is an Oral Screening Carried Out?
Some medical organizations do not agree that oral cancer screening should be done during a dental checkup because some people do not have any risk factors for mouth cancer. Some of these risks factors include heavy consumption of tobacco and alcohol, previous history of cancer, significant exposure to the sun, and so on. Not everyone is exposed to these factors hence some people do not need an oral screening. There are no studies to confirm whether oral screening offers any benefits to people without these risk factors. The screening only benefits those who have one or more of these factors.
An endodontist in Boca Raton will help you perform a mouth cancer screening and let you know how you can reduce the risk of having mouth cancer. If cancer tumors or lesions are found during an oral cancer screening, a date will be scheduled for you to have them removed or you will be referred to an FL dentist near you for surgery.
Disadvantages of an Oral Cancer Screening
When a patient has a sore in the mouth, an oral exam will not be able to suggest if the sore is a result of cancer or not. A biopsy will have to be carried out. This explains that a mouth cancer screening will cause more tests and examinations which can go out of the regular dental checkup procedure.
Also, oral cancer screening cannot help to detect all kinds of mouth cancer so you might have cancer and it will not be detected in an oral screening.
If a dentist finds a sign of cancer in an oral cancer screening, tests including biopsy (removal of some cells to test if they are cancerous or not) will have to be carried out. You will also need to come to the hospital for follow-up tests to check how fast or slow the cancer is growing or shrinking.
