Hi Redser,

Like you, I was just past my 29th birthday when diagnosed. I was stage II and had the neck dissection. I did not have radiation though. Like the rest of you - I also had no risk factors. I did not have braces as a child or before the cancer - but have since started Invisiline adult braces. My dentist (who found it initially) thought that it might be due to chronic tooth irritation - but I don't know. Mine started as a lump inside the muscle of my tongue and opened up into an ulcer at a later time. I, of course, had no idea any of it was cancer - until the dentist saw it.