Preventing Oral Cancer Effectively

According to an estimate, 50,000 people this year are going to be diagnosed with oral cancer. And 9,000 among them are going to die. One thing worth mentioning here is that an effective way to ensure prevention from this disease is to go for oral screening regularly. Although oral cancer is more of a scary topic to talk about, you can prevent it by working on preventive measures. Having that said, below mentioned are some facts which describe occurrence of oral cancer and the ways you can deal with it.

The oral cancer

Oral cancer, like other types of cancers, occurs due to abnormal growth of cells. Oral cancer is basically associated with the lack of proper production or division of cells. As a result of this condition, the formation of unwanted tissues occurs.  The consolidation of these unwanted tissues is what we commonly refer to as tumor. There are two types of oral cancer. One type is related to the oral cavity. The cancer starts spreading from the mouth and travels in outward direction. Another type of cancer is oropharyngeal cancer. This cancer is formed in the throat area and it also spreads in outward direction.

Common symptoms

There are a lot of symptoms of oral cancer. The most common ones are mentioned below.

• Swelling and bumps on the gums and other inner parts of the oral cavity
• Sores on the throat and face. Such sores seem to be on the brink of bleeding
• Bleeding in the mouth and throat that one may not be able to explain
• Soreness and discomfort in the back of throat
• Weight loss
• Pain in the ears
• Difficulty in eating foods
• Red and white patches in the mouth
• Loosening of teeth

The risk factors

You need to keep an eye on the risk factors in order to stay away from them if you really don’t want to be caught by oral cancer.

The first thing that you will need to avoid is the use of tobacco products. We all know how bad the smoking is. Yet, many people don’t seem to find any help from anywhere when it comes to avoiding or getting rid of this habit.

Use of alcohol is another major reason for the oral cancer to develop in the mouth. Drinking can result in dry mouth which can make things dangerously adverse to oral health.

HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Infection can be another reason for oral cancer. Although, many types of HPV do not cause cancer, there are a few common ones which do.

Preventing oral cancer

Although there are treatment options available but we are talking about prevention. Prevention is better than cure due to obvious reason that prevention doesn’t involve extensive and advanced procedures which are normally required to treat oral cancer. Typically, you can get oral cancer screening from your dentist during regular dental checkups.