Oral Cancer Screenings in Garrettsville, OH
Along with caring for your teeth and gums, dental professionals also diagnose and treat diseases involving your mouth, neck, and head. When you’re in their chair during a routine examination, they will also probe these areas of your body. They do oral cancer screenings near you to try to diagnose this deadly disease in its earliest stages to cure it.
Questions About Your Medical History
To get a glimpse of your family medical history, our dental staff at Garrettsville Dental Group will ask questions about what diseases you’ve had and those of your closest relatives. They may ask questions about whether you’ve had problems with your heart, if you have dental prosthetics, and if anyone in your family was a cancer patient.
After answering those questions, the staff may ask if you’ve had any dental problems that they need to know about. If you’ve had head- or earaches or issues with your throat, you should disclose those to our dentists in Garrettsville, OH. Some of the symptoms that can suggest oral cancer are:
- Feeling like something is in my throat
- A sore throat
- Difficulty chewing or swallowing
- Problems moving your jaw
- Numbness of mouth or tongue
Mouth Examinations
After talking to one of our dentists near you about symptoms, they will begin to examine your mouth to try to find signs of oral cancer. Along with using an intraoral camera to see the back of your mouth and tongue, one of our dentists will place gloves on their hands to physically examine the soft tissues, like the inside of your cheeks, lips, and around the tongue.
Some of the signs you could have cancer include:
- Red or white sores that don’t heal
- Hard lumps or swellings inside of your lips, cheeks, and tongue
- Swelling around your jaw
- Swelling or lumps on the side and back of your neck
- Dark spots on the back of the tongue
If you have any of the symptoms listed above or see any sores in your mouth that are not healing or lumps, make an appointment with our dentists at Garrettsville Dental Group as soon as you can. The earlier oral cancer treatment starts, the better a patient’s chance of survival. That’s why oral cancer screenings in Garrettsville, OH are a vital part of routine dental examinations.
