Oral Cancer Screening

Posted: 02 February 2011

As proactive dentists in Liverpool, we are now offering a new examination here at our private Cosmetic Dental Practice based on Rodney Street called Vizilite Plus - it assists dental professionals in the early detection of oral abnormalities. It can simply save lives - people have screening for breast cancer with a mammogram, smears for cervical cancer, so why not for oral cancer? A few minutes once a year is it worth it for a healthier life. Our female dentist Dr Melissa Goddard always thoroughly checks soft tissues during routine examinations, Vizilite Plus is able to penetrate tissues allowing us to see in closer detail any cancerous or non-cancerous abnormalities. Its 100% effective at identifying tissue changes and identification of lesions at an early stage means that treatment is simpler, less invasive and 90% successful and it can give peace of mind to an issue that may have been particularly worrying you.

Smoking and drinking alcohol can increase the risk of mouth cancers, but people who do both are at particularly high risk. You can help reduce the risks by quitting smoking, don’t chew tobacco, paan or other carcinogens, limiting your alcohol consumption to within the recommended limits and eating a healthy diet including your five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Early signs to look out for are a sore or ulcer in the mouth that does not clear up within three weeks, white or red patches on the gums, tongue or lining of the mouth, difficulty swallowing or a feeling like something is caught in your throat, chronic sore throats or hoarseness for more than six weeks (especially in smokers and heavy drinkers) and difficulty in chewing or moving the jaw or tongue.

If you have any concerns you can arrange your screening now by contacting our Liverpool dental practice Apollonia Dental & Cosmetic Centre on 0151 709 9146 or 0151 708 5001.