Screenings take less than five minutes and are primarily a visual examination combined with manual palpation of the nodes of the floor of the mouth and neck. The tongue should be pulled outwards from the mouth and the base of it examined visually as well, since this is a common site for OC and not visible unless you pull the tongue out. (If the doctor did not do this, you have not had a good examination.) The tongue boarders, which are a frequent site for oral cancer, are felt with a finger for hard spots, which might indicate a suspect area. If you want to read a complete description of the exam written for dentists, go to the dental section of the web site and you will see a link to it there. Oral cancer, and even the precancerous tissue changes before a real cancer exists like erythroplakia and leukoplakia, can be seen with the naked eye, without special equipment or felt with the fingertips. It should be part of a regular dental examination, but too frequently it is not. If a doctor find a suspect area, he may immediately do a simple brush biopsy, (3 min, painless and inexpensive) or he may decide to observe the area for a couple of weeks to see if it will resolve on it