Many dentists wouldn't recognize an oral cancer if it crawled out of your mouth and smacked them alongside the head. Save your money and find an ENT or head & neck surgeon with proven H&N cancer experience.

In all fairness to dentists, many never see an OC in their entire career.

The so called "dental screening" has me highly suspicious as most OC is at the base of the tongue or tonsils which are out of normal visualization for dentists and hygienists.

Some call merely looking under your tongue a "cancer screening". That's what they did to me. My dentist has stopped performing OC exams altogether (probably from the advice of his attorney). If they are only going to give you a half assed exam and a false sense of security what's the point?

OCF has worked long and hard to convince the ADA of the importance of OC exams during annual or semiannual prophylaxsis with little success. After all, the head and neck area is a medical specialty, and for a good reason.

IMO you probably have some medical issue other than OC but GET an opinion from a specialist to set your mind at ease. If it IS cancer than you want to start treatment very quickly to insure that your staging remains stable.