OCF calls them dental lifesavers. An oxymoron? Perhaps not. We know that dentists and hygienists are not thought of by the public, and do not think of themselves, as people who engage in the saving of lives. After all, they are not ER doctors. But when either of these dental professionals finds an oral cancer in the course of their examinations, especially if at an early stage one or two, they have undoubtedly saved a life. The Oral Cancer Foundation has begun a Dental Lifesavers Program, designed to raise the visibility, awareness, and recognition of these individuals who, through two simple acts, educating themselves about oral cancers, and taking the time to screen their patient population for oral cancer, actually save lives. Those who are publicly recognized in this program in news stories, invariably say they were just doing their job. But to the patients who nominated them to be recognized, and to the foundation, they are heroes. By incorporating a program of cancer screening into their practice of dentistry and dental hygiene, they significantly contribute to reducing the death rate and the morbidity of this disease. They help engrain in the public

I am curious about how others found out about their lesions. If a dentist or hygienist sees something suspicious, and they inform the patient, do they set up a referral to a dental surgeon? Or do they inform the patient and leave it up to them to get to a docotr for diagnosis?

My orthodontist found my first oral cancer. I was having some treatment for TMJ and seeing him regularly. I developed a sore under my tongue and thought the splint I was wearing to prevent grinding my teeth might be rubbing. He checked the splint and didn't see anything and said that the sore didn't look like anything to worry about. My next visit a few weeks later the sore was still there. He said "that shouldn't still be there" and IMMEDIATELY sent me next door to an oral surgeon who did a biopsy and referred me to an ENT when the results confirmed it was cancer. My second cancer (13 years later) was found due to my paranoia. I would go to my ENT whenever I saw or felt something suspicious.
ilene

Kristin, You can find out more information about how people discovered their oral cancer under the General Discussion Forum. There is a post and replies about how people found out that they had oral cancer.

Anne.

A cautionary tale. My mother (Helen) went to the dentist to have her dentures adjusted and showed him the sore on her tongue that she attributed to the dentures. He said it was just "like a fever blister" and that she should rinse with salt water.

She just happened to have a routine doctor's appointment the next day. She wasn't even going to mention her sore tongue to the doctor because the dentist said it wasn't anything to worry about. I mentioned it anyway, and the doctor took a look. He immediately set her up with an ENT appt. the same week. She was diagnosed with stage 2 oral tongue cancer.

This has certainly shaken our confidence in the dentist. What was he thinking? Should I call him and tell him he missed the cancer? Should I go back to him for dental care? If we hadn't had an already scheduled appt. with an M.D., my mother would still be rinsing her mouth and waiting for the sore to diminish!

Brian, after to read its letter "What

Brian I really enjoyed your letter let me tell you if my husband had not of went in to have his dentures adjusted we would not of known. He said that it was not the dentures that he thought it was oral cancer and he should go right away to his Orthodonist to have a second opinion and of course he thought it was also. They imediately set up a appointment with the ENT and a biopsy was done. I just can not understand why his MD did not find it because he was losing weight and feeling poorly and thats why he thought his bottom dentures should be adjusted. He went to his MD every month because of his blood disease and High Blood Pressure. He has Polycythemia Vera and he would have blood taken out every six or seven weeks. So I for one was really glad oral dentist found this. He even brought his staff to look at it so they would know what to look for. I guess we were lucky our denist caught it. Bobbie Jensen

With trepidation I admit I am a dental hygienist.
I have been in clinical practice over 16 years. I diligently screen for oral cancers on all patients. Where I see the problem lying is the dental community and the public needs to be awaree that this problem is greater than any of us would realize.
This site has increased my awareness,has kept me diligent and I have passed the address of this site and Brian Hills initial comments in this Awareness board on to my employer/dentist and collegues.
To bring to light that the problem I see, in recognition and diagnosis, is that half the patients seen in a day can and do exhibit some type of anomoly/abnormality. The dental professional will note it in the chart. Some leasions are brought to the patients awarness, some patients are brought back for biopsy with the oral surgeon.
Just this Thursday I had a patient, a state trooper, that became annoyed that I screened him for oral cancer! He said " all I did was come in to have my teeth cleaned" Surprisingly, many patients have this mentality. However,I do not and will not waver from my duty to screen for oral cancer.
The general public is not aware of the dangers of oral cancer nor of the need for early detection. This also needs to be worked on for us, the dental community, to do our part.
Only then would it be feasible, and seen as responsible, for the dental professional to send each and every patient that exhibits some oral anomaly for biopsy.
Thankyou for allowing me to voice my concerns. My prayers go out to each of you, caretaker and patient alike.
Linda

I agree with Brian and others here that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure and that education of dentists for early detection of dysplasia would be a key to reduced morbidity and mortality from oral cancer. In my own case, my dental hygienist should have done more about looking for dysplasia. I had oral mucosal problems and brought them to her attention but she said that I should not worry when I should have. I suppose those lobbying for dentists to pay more attention to oral cancer expect that the dentist will guide the hygienist.

On the other hand, we have the problem indicated by Linda the hygienist on this board

Hello Roy,

I think it would be relatively easy to impress the dental community to do more. We simply declare Oral Cancer Day and each one of us personally visits every dentist office we can get to. I'm sure that showing our scars, our missing "parts" or pictures of our dear departed victims, to any hygenist or dentist would have some effect. If necessary we leave behind copies of pictures to show to whiney patients whom are put out by the "inconvenience" of an oral cancer screening.

From there it moves on to training these professionals on how to recognize the symptoms when they are easily cured.