Hi. I am a 74 year old retired professor living with my wife in Colorado. I'm new to the forum. About 3 years ago, my dentist found a small growth on my tongue, which was evaluated and removed at CU Medical Center in Denver. Two years later I had some pain in my tongue and went back for another checkup. The biopsy was negative. Another biopsy 4 months later also was negative. A third biopsy a month ago came out positive, and I had it and some lymph glands removed on April 10. That was a miserable experience.

Sometime before the surgery I saw the Consumer Reports (CR) article, "Save your Life." I sent the following letter to the editor:

"Concerning your report, "Save Your Life" (March 2013), why do you recommend that I "avoid" oral cancer screenings? Dentists and dental hygienists are trained to screen for oral cancer whenever you go in for a routine dental exam or have your teeth cleaned. They visually inspect your mouth and it takes maybe 2 minutes. There is no extra charge. As long as you are at the dentist�s office and you already have your mouth open, why not have them take a look?
Incidentally, about three years ago my dental hygienist found a suspicious small white growth on my tongue. It was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma and removed surgically at CU Medical Center in Denver. I�ve had no problems with it since. I�m glad I didn�t "avoid" that oral cancer screening, per your recommendation."

I received a form letter response from CR saying they take all letters seriously, but receive thousands of letters and can't print them all. Blah, Blah! There was no way for me to respond to their form letter.

I sometimes have a hard time letting go of things, so I sent the following note to the CR "mistakes" customer service person. I don't expect a reply.

"In its March, 2013 issue, CR recommends that we readers avoid oral cancer screenings, and that to have such screenings can pose a variety of problems for us. I think that all dental schools now teach their students to screen for oral cancers during routine dental exams. If screenings pose a serious risk to patients, should dental schools immediately eliminate such training for their students? Do you think that dental schools are being irresponsible by offering such training to their students? Instead of teaching students to perform exams, should they instead be advising their students to not examine their patients for oral cancer? Should I refuse to let my dentist look in my mouth for oral cancers? If my dentist should not be permitted to look for oral cancers, should I not look myself? If I inadvertently see something in my mouth that looks odd or suspicious, should I just put it out of my mind and assume that it is not an oral cancer and all will be OK?"

I also forwarded my CR letter to the American Dental Association (ADA). Here's the response from the ADA:

"Hi Dr. Smith,
It�s nice to hear from you. Thanks so much for sharing your follow up with Consumer Reports with me. I found out that CR is scheduled to publish the ADA�s letter to the editor in its June issue. The ADA News wrote a story about our letter: http://www.ada.org/news/8395.aspx
In addition, the ADA joined with other oral health organizations in drafting a joint press release to media about the value of oral cancer screenings. Check it out here: http://www.ada.org/8514.aspx
I�m so sorry to hear about your recent surgery. Here�s to wishing you a speedy recovery.
Best,
Lydia

So, the ADA is right on top of things, and they were nice enough to respond to my letter. CR apparently just sends off form letters, and that's it. Too busy or whatever! One of the disturbing things about this is that when organizations like CR get really large, they becomes inaccessible. I remember when a person could write the president of a large company and have a good chance of getting a reply. Letters now go right to the customer service department, and that's it. There are a few great companies like REI or Patagonia that are exceptions.

Hope this is not too wordy for a first time poster to the forum. I don't know any of you, but wish you all good health and peace of mind.