Hi, Amy. Your story sounds much like mine. My dentist overlooked my cancer, which began on my upper right gum, by the cheek. I complained of tenderness in that area, and I also complained of ear pain on that side, which is noted in his very brief notes. He noted "some pocketing." At the next visit, six months later, the lesion was still there, and he cauterized it!!! He still called it a periodontal problem, or an injury. I doubt that he even read his tiny little note from six months before. He did not have me return for him to check whether or not it improved. Then, two months later, when I returned because I noted that there was something not right on the inside of my gum, he scraped and cauterized it AGAIN, calling it ANUG (which used to be called "trench mouth" in the olden days.) Never did he instruct me to return for him to be sure that the lesion resolved, and never, even when it was obvious that this lesion had spread from the outside to the inside of my gum and onto the hard palate, did he recognize it as cancer. When I returned the following day, insisting to be seen, he sent me to the periodontist, who immediately recognized it and sent me to the oral surgeon, who took a biopsy. The dentist is clearly at fault for "failure to diagnose" and he certainly allowed my cancer to progress and necessitate a more extensive surgery. I have no idea yet whether this delay will cause me more problems, such as metastasis or recurrence. Needless to say, he will not be seeing me professionally again!

Dentists have a grave responsibility in the area of early recognition, and the public MUST be informed about the danger signs of oral cancer, and how they can take more responsibility for their own oral health. In my case....and in yours, Amy, ...we were doing what we thought we should.....getting regular check-ups with what we thought were well-trained dental practitioners.

I think that one very simple thing, at least in my case, that would have made a difference, is simply to have the patient return for a quick check to see if a lesion does or does not respond to treatment after several weeks. This would have saved me 8-9 months of allowing this cancer to continue to grow in my mouth. I know NOW that I should have checked it myself, but I was not told that there was any concern, nor was I instructed to check it. He simply said, "That should take care of it." It didn't!!