Oral
cancer occurs on the mouth, lips, tongue, gums, salivary glands, and throat. It
is difficult to detect oral cancer, so if you feel that you are experiencing
any abnormal change in the mouth, gums, tongue or surrounding area, you should
have it checked by your dentist immediately.
Signs of
oral cancer include continuous pain in the mouth, sores and bumps as well as
ragged, ulcerous lesions inside the mouth. You are most likely to have oral
cancer if you have difficulty moving your mouth and jaw and swallowing and
chewing.
You may
also suffer discomfort from soreness in the throat, a bump in the neck and feel
pronounced pain in one ear. Your tongue, gums or cheeks also bleed and there is
a numb feeling in a specific are of your mouth or jaw.
If you
have these symptoms, you should see both a Fishers Indiana
dentist and doctor as soon as possible. Your doctor will most likely
refer you to an oncologist if cancer is detected. Both your dentist and doctor
examine your mouth and look into your medical history. After assessment of your
mouth, they come up with an initial diagnostic impression and treatment plan. A
biopsy is performed if the treatment plan fails to resolve your dental
condition within a span of two weeks.
A
diagnosis of oral cancer is done through a biopsy and clinical evaluation by
your fishers
IN dentist. Your doctor and dentist identify the stage and grade of
the cancer. They know that there is cancer when the basement membrane of the
epithelium is broken. If not detected soon, the cancer spreads to other areas
of your mouth and body, leading to secondary cancers.
The
assessment done by your Fishers Indiana dentist helps guide the
doctor in determining the proper treatment. The doctor may need to perform
additional tests such as an X-ray, CT scan or MRI scan. He or she may also use
ultrasounds to analyze the contour, consistency and composition of the
cancerous mass or masses. After the diagnostic tests have been done, your
doctor may decide to perform surgery if it is the right treatment plan. The
surgery involves removing tumors in the jaw or roof of the mouth bone tissue.
It also removes tumors that may have spread in other parts of the body like the
lymph nodes.