Do You Have Oral or Mouth Cancer? Here’s How You Can Perform a Self-Exam at Home

Mouth cancer or oral cancer is any malignant tumor in the oral cavity (lips, gums, tongue and under it, the internal part of the cheeks and palate). It is within the head and neck cancers and the main cause is usually smoking. If detected early it usually has a good prognosis.

Table of Contents hide

1 Causes of mouth cancer:

1.1 How can you detect oral cancer at home?

1.1.1 Responsible for mouth cancer :

1.2 Detecting oral cancer by consulting a dental surgeon:

2 The medication of the mouth cancer along with treatment:

2.1 Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy:

2.2 Recovery results of oral cancer treatment:

Causes of mouth cancer:

Malignant tumors in the oral cavity usually develop by a mutation in of the DNA of the squamous cells (squamous cell carcinoma) that is noted to occur due to:

Smoking
Alcoholism
Direct contact of the lips over sunlight.
The rare disease is known as HPV
Oral hygiene is not maintained well.
When the tissues of the mouth are constantly rubbed by teeth which are rough and torned.
The immune system becomes weaker and weaker due to heavy dose medicines.

How can you detect oral cancer at home?

Oral cancer can be self-examined at home by witnessing a few changes in the body. The most common signs where you can confirm the presence of oral cancer are soring of mouth, leukoplakia, etc. You can come to know about this in the first phase. The pain being felt is not excessive but when the tumor develops it comes continuous and unbearable. Also, there are few symptoms which are mentioned below:

Responsible for mouth cancer :

Leukoplakia for more than 14 days.
Ulcer or rashes in the mouth that also cause serve to bleed.
Chewing problems.
Pain and facing issues in swallowing food.
Sudden Weightloss.
One also faces a problem in opening the mouth.
Trouble speaking.
Problems in the tongue.
Swollen nodes of the lymph which are found on the neck.
Bad breath.
Numbness (paraesthesia).
Oral exam and biopsy

Detecting oral cancer by consulting a dental surgeon:

Normally the dentist or stomatologist at the nearest dental clinic can detect a cancerous oral lesion in a routine visual check and can be confirmed with the analysis of a tissue sample (biopsy) and with different kinds of the test having a fully digital system. This system is also known as a computed CT scan or PET test.

If the diagnosis is confirmed, the second procedure is to know the stage of cancer : 0, I, II, III or IV. If the cancer is detected in its last stage, it can be confirmed that it will spread to other parts of the body.

The medication of the mouth cancer along with treatment:

Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy:

The healing process of oral cancer will be dependent on the state of the patient’s health, of course, on his choice but the first step by surgery to remove the tumor making sure to eliminate all the cancer cells in the tissue. Depending on the type of tumor the oncologist surgeon at the nearest dental clinic will propose the most viable surgical option since if it has spread to the neck through the lymph nodes it is possible to dissect this area to remove these nodes and the compromised neck tissue.

The removal of oral cancer usually requires, also, a reconstruction surgery at dental clinic that, in addition to rebuilding the mouth, allows to recover the ability to speak and eat.The treatment is complemented with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy which, having the case of the first, must require a good review as per the advice of a stomatologist or even of a dental surgeon who will confirm that the health status of the teeth is ready or not.

The radiation might produce some negative effects where you will witness the traces of tooth decay, damaging the jaw, dry mouth, etc. Other side effects are also caused which relates to loss of hair, vomiting, nausea, etc.

Recovery results of oral cancer treatment:

Pharmacologically, treatment with a drug with cetuximab can be considered to stop the action of a protein that predominates in some cancer cells.

Learn more: Improving Your Smile with Cosmetic Dentistry

Immunotherapy in patients with advanced oral cancer also helps our system of immunity to fight cancer by intervening in the process by which cancer cells produce proteins that affect the cells which are present in the immune system. Another recovery action includes speech therapy and chews and swallow treatment but try to avoid dry mouth and a nutritional guideline to maintain weight.