Sadly, oral cancer's are not the type that are easily identified via an optical device. Yes, there are commercially available devices that purport to do that, but they are still new and may not yet have a proven track record; this being one reason why we don't see one in every doctor's and dentist's office.

You mentioned the ENT not examining the back of your tongue for a GERD related problem. Do you know if base of tongue exam is an accepted part of the exam procedure for GERD. If not, then can you really fault the doctor for not checking you for a different problem (worry about cancer) that maybe you didn't communicate to him/her.

One thing we all can do as patients and advocates is to know what a proper oral screening exam looks like. If and when it is not followed the delicate problem becomes how to communicate that to our doctors and dentists. I haven't yet been successful in getting my dentist to do a better oral exam; so (as a survivor) I make sure my ENT does a good one every time I see him.

If you don't know what a good oral exam looks like, there are good videos on Youtube and even possibly some here on the OCF website to watch.

In the absence of routine optical device use we have to depend on good oral cancer screening technique.




Tony, 69, non-smoker, aerobatics pilot, bridge player/teacher, avid dancer (ballroom, latin, swing, country)

09/13 SCC, HPV 16, tonsillectomy, T2N0.
11/13 start rads, no chemo
12/13 taste gone, dry mouth,
02/14 hair slowly returning
05/14 taste the same, dry sinuses, irrigation helps.
01/15 food taste about 60% returned, dry sinuses are worse in winter.
12/20 no more sinus problems, taste pretty good