April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

In the US, there is a new case every 8.5 minutes!

The numbers are staggering – and scary!  The first step to beating cancer is to not have it – so common sense things like not smoking and not using tobacco are a great start.  Unfortunately, the reality is that oral cancer is also common without behavioral risk factors.  The key to staying healthy is finding the issue as early as possible.

It turns out that with early detection, the 5-year survival rate is over 80% – and this is fantastic news because if it isn’t caught early, the 5-year survival rate is a frightening 38%.  Obviously the key is to find those lesions as early as you possibly can.  At Aesthetic Dentistry of Georgetown, your Head and Neck Cancer Screening is a part of your routine hygiene visits.

In fact, in addition to the traditional palpation exam where we look for lumps and bumps, we also use the VelScope which is a screening tool that can show both cancerous and precancerous tissue changes that the naked eye can’t see.

Your regular recare visits to keep your gum tissues healthy is important, but not just for your gums.  This is also the key to finding any tissue changes as early as possible and making sure that if this is ever a story about you, you are on the early detection end and have the best chance for the best outcome.

We are looking forward to seeing you at your next visit!

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