I had a dentist for a year that looked at my spot in my mouth and kept telling me it wasn't oral cancer. But didn't refer me to an oral surgeon or take steps to do a biopsy. So finally I switched dentists. The new one didn't think it was tongue cancer but referred me to an oral surgeon for a biospy just to be sure.

Well it was tongue cancer. I had surgery and radiation. I am very lucky-it is stage 1 with no lymph node involvement and it did not spread anywhere. I will be ok.

So should I do anything about the firt dentist who ignored my concers or just let it go? Is it worth it? I just hope he doesn't do it to other people as well. Has anyone been in this situation?

I've been in this situation-- had a couple of visits to the dentist who saw the spot and never told me to get it biopsied. I was stage II when it finally got biopsed--also pretty lucky but because of some aggressive features of the tumor I also had aggressive treatmnt which have left me with some quality of life issues (can't swallow).

With all the other stuff I was dealing with (I was diagnosed with breast cancer--unrelated--at almost the same time I was diagnosed with tongue cancer, and once that was treated there has been the swallowing battle, not over yet) I have not had the energy to think about legal action against the first dentist but I would have a very differnt life, possibly for the rest of my life, if he had caught this earlier.

Is there a time limit on legal action pover something like this? I assume there is and wonder if I'm beyond it already.....

Sorry, not much good advice to give you just to say you aren't alone and I know how you feel (really hope this dentist pays more attention in the future).....

Nelie

Thanks Nelie.

I am just toying with the idea. I don't know if I ever would do anything about it just because of the energy it would take and as we all know, life is too short.

It does help to know I wasn't the only one who has been in this situation.

I can't comment on legal action - but I would like to comment on a possible pro-active step you could take. Have you considered contacting this first dentist to let him know that he did misdiagnose you and perhaps forward him some information that might help him prevent making the same mistake again.

Legal action might get you some sort of revenge or a sense of justice, but a pro-active approach might also save someone else's life.

Just a thought.

My dentist who failed to tell me I needed a biopsy (until the third time he saw the cancer when it had gotten much larger) does know he missed saying something earlier. My husband let him know. The thing is, he's a very likable guy and that does make a difference to me (even though it probably shouldn't).

Someone told me about some research that had been done on the body language of doctors with their patients. They could predict from the body language which docs would get sued most often. Not because body language predicts screwing up--but body language predicts how much the patients personally like their docs and when patients like a doc they don't end up suing as much even when something goes wrong.

Sorry. Kind of off-topic but as an experimental psychologist I found that pretty interesting....

Nelie

I agree with all of the above posters - I was mentioning this "thing" in my throat for a year and he never once suggested seeing a specialist. It got to be 6cm. It practically could jump right out of my throat and was readily visible. He is a great dentist and old friend. I asked him how many patients he has seen with oral cancer in his entire practice and he said "about three" (and his practice is huge). I also went to my family doctor several times and he didn't get it either. I have been seeing this dentist for over 30 years. The hygenists routinely do a cancer screening and they missed it. They might have missed it anyway until it got really large - the tonsil hides behind the side of the tongue and nowhere near the area of concern of the average dentist or hygenist.

This is one of lifes little speed bumps - after all he didn't give me the cancer. They have certainly become more careful in their screening since then however. Maybe a life will be saved.

In the scheme of things oral cancer is fairly rare compared to other types. A few here have even had problems finding an ENT to Dx it correctly.

Even when my tumor was very visible (and painful), I was told several times over a period of 2-3 years by a GP, a dentist, and finally an oral pathologist that it couldn't possibly be anything serious. (The pathologist wasn't actually looking at any test results -- he was going on the basis of my non-smoking, social drinking history.) I know my oral surgeon (who did the biopsy that diagnosed the cancer) contacted the other doctors to tell them what they had missed.

My husband is an attorney and on a few occasions after my treatment ended he mentioned that he had considered suing at least one of them, but in light my good recovery, he abandoned the idea.

Cathy

Hi Banker,

I was happy to read that your cancer was a Stage I with no lypmh node involvement. I was wondering what type of treatment you had. Was it surgery only?

The topic of a missed diagnosis is one that is very important to me as a dentist, oral cancer survivor and a member of the OCF. There hasn't been a week that has gone by since I joined the OCF that someone here doesn't say that their cancer was missed by their dentist, hygienist, oral surgeon, etc.. I find this to be very disturbing, to say the least. In all fairness, there are many members whose dental professional did find their cancer. But, as far as I'm concerned, one missed diagnosis, is too many. And Cathy, to blow off a lesion because the patient doesn't smoke or drink, means that someone is uneducated.

In my case, I did not suspect that I had squamous cell carcinoma nor did the oral surgeon in my office that performed the biopsy. But, because the sore wasn't healing, we did what we knew should be done. To say the least, I was shocked.

As many of you know from my previous posts, an article that I have written and activities such as oral cancer screenings at the Relay for Life and participating in the NYC Walk for Oral Cancer, I am trying to make a difference. I feel very strongly about the fact that something has to be done to better educate the dental profession and the public so that the words "Oral Cancer" are as noticable as Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, etc.. I want patients to ask their dentist why they are not getting screened for oral cancer and to switch dentists if nothing is done about it.

Now getting to the topic of suing. It would probably be a very hard case to win. Considering the time and money you would have to put into a case, it would hardly seem practical. I not saying this to "protect" the dentist(s), but because I honestly believe that it would be hard to prove negligence. But, I'm not a lawyer.

On the constructive side, have you told the dentists involved that they missed your cancer? It would be a service to them and their patients, if you could make them aware of what happened and suggest that they look into continuing education courses and ask them to check out websites like:
www.sextetscreening.org
and www.gotdds.com
for training on how to do a thorough oral cancer screening. The American Dental Assoc. offers a continuing ed course on oral screenings.

If you would like a copy of the aricle that I wrote for a local dental journal to give to the dentist(s), send me an email and I'll attach it as a word document.

Jerry

PS Gary, I know how down you are on dentists in general about their lack of screenings from many of your previous posts and I was happy to read above that you appear to still be friends with your dentist. Also, Gary, you make a good point that many lesions are very difficult to see and I may add, many times require a scope to be vizualized.

Sorry, that second link is www.gotodds.com

Jerry

I am shocked as I read the amount of time it took many people to find out about their oc. My son said his lump (under his tongue) had been there about a year - well, maybe two. I was floored. "Why did you wait so long to bring it up?" He had been to his dentist every 6 mo. (not noticed) but alas, he never said anything either. He finally went to ENT because of swollen node on neck who cut it out from under the tongue that day. (small gray thing) I think people know when something isn't "right" with their body and should point it out and/or seek further evaluation. I am so against suing anybody for the problem. I think Gary said it best when he said to inform the dentist; he has to feel horrible about it.

Unfortunately in our society, when something bad happens, we want someone to pay. Maybe one person could get a great verdict, but believe me eventally everyone in the country would pay. Dentists, hygienists, dental assistants are just human and obviously not as well educated on this subject as they should be. Getting the word out is the best thing. I know I'm going to mention it to everyone.