You asked for it, Brian, and here it is!

My former middle aged dentist had a red spot in the back of my mouth pointed out to him by his young hygienist. He told her and me that it was just from the misalignment of teeth and was nothing to worry about. So I didn't. UNTIL, I read an article about OC, which I didn't even know existed, took a flashlight, and found the red spot had become a tumor.

I would like to send an informative book to this dentist so that he can be more aware. If there is one book better than others, I would like to know about it, please.

Joanna

We should continue this thread with more "misadventures" if anyone has them to post. As to the book, please go to our page of books for professionals, and the Silverman book is an excellent choice for dentists. http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/educational_materials_products.htm

Joanna, did we go to the same dentist? Last May, Before I moved to China I did one last visit to my U.S. dentist for checkup, etc. Had a slight burning sensation on my tongue, but also, my dentist said it was tooth irritation, and was more intersted in doing extensive peridontal work that I didn't need as it turns out.

Just had the old teeth cleaned, and went on my merry way, assured that it was just an irritation from a slighly sharp tooth. Fast forward to August, when the irritation didn't go away went to dentist in Hong Kong. On top of discovering I didn't need the peridontal work, dentist looks at the sore spot on my tongue and decides that maybe it might be a good idea to see an ENT. Sets me up to see the ENT, who decides that even though I have a history of lichen planus, might be a good idea to do a biopsy. The rest as they say, is history.

I'm headed back to the states for Chinese New Year vacation, I'm half temped to make an appointment for check up and cleaning with this clown, see if he actually NOTICES I"m missing half my tongue!!!

He'll just want to do more peridontal work though.
Bob

Hi all, it isn't just dentists either, my husband woke up one morning with an egg size lypmh node on the side of his neck under his chin. Got right in with his doctor who wanted to rule out cancer. Sent him to an ENT the next day. The ENT said it was just a pulled muscle!! Gave him steriods and said come back in two weeks. Well Dan went back in two weeks and the Dr said "Hmm was that lump that big two weeks ago?" Dan assured him it was. Well he decides to do a biopsy the following week. When Dan went into the office the Dr had tears in his eyes and was too shocked for words, said he didnt' fit the profile, under 40 non smoker etc etc. I thought the doctors were well aware that if it looks like a duck it is probably a duck?? I just don't understand the way they think.
Oh well, the ENT sent him to a great surgeon (wasn't sure why he didn't want to do this himself) Went to new ENT on Monday, Oral biopsy on Tuesday and the following Tues he had his Neck dissection. Radiation and chemo followed and has been cancer free for 1 1/2 years.
Dans dentist does a better job at checking him that the first ENT did.
Thanks for letting me vent....
Off to watch the Super Bowl.
Sherrie

I agree with Sherrie Lynn - it's not always dentists who don't catch things they should be aware of, it's also doctors - doctors who don't want to spend time with their patients or who only half-listen to the patient when they come in for a check-up. When I belonged to former HMO (my husband was under my insurance plan) - our doctor at the time ignored the symptoms my husband was complaining of, which was frequent sore throat and ear pain. The doctor didn't even make a referral to an ENT specialist - he just sent my husband home with some "Cipro" for his ear and some cough medicine with codeine in it. After I switched HMO's to the one I am currently with - our new doctor noticed something "suspicious" (hard mass on right side of neck) and sent him to an ENT doc. A biopsy was done and sure enough it was squamous cell carcinoma at the base of the tongue. Even the dentist my husband was seeing did not think to check for anything. It's amazing how quickly doctors ignore or dismiss a patient's concerns without being cautious enough to have further tests done to rule out a diagnosis or to confirm it. Usually by the time it's been "confirmed" - the patient has had it spread to lymph nodes and it's much harder to treat. People in general need to be made more aware of oral cancers and doctors need to be more vigilant.

I also have to agree, I was misdiagnosed by my recent family physician for about a year. Kept going and telling him something just was not right and he kept saying it was sinus and allergy problems. Finally insisted that something different be done. Not once was there a throat culture, look down the throat. Went to ENT who suspected right away when he heard me talking. After verything was said and done I was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in its 1st stage.

Mike D.

Diagnosed 06/2002 w/Laryngeal cancer, 1st stage

From reading these posts, one can relate that physicians or dentists sometimes can miss an oral lesion entirely. Not to be biased but you should have or request your dentist to do a complete oral examination on you. Family physicians are not very familiar with oral lesions because they are not trained in indentifying them in the oral cavity. Don't be afraid to questions if you feel that the answer does not make sense. Seek second opinion or even a third. I have heard some many familiar stories of antibiotics rounds after rounds before cancer is diagnosed. If a doc cannot give you a definitive diagnosis of a lesion, time to get the answer from someone else. DP

I saw an oral surgeon, a hygienist and dentist (twice) and a GP (twice) with 2 rounds of antibiotics (with a highly visible tumor, tan rubbery blob, slightly larger than a golf ball AND THEY COULDN'T DIAGNOSE IT! It took the ENT about 5 microseconds to tell me to get my "affairs in order" - and that without even taking a biopsy. And I did bring it to their attention numerous times. They now perform (and they did perform regular cancer exams but mainly under the tongue, in the mouth, gums and places like that. They never wrapped gauze around my tongue and took a look in the back of my throat but then maybe that is outside their area of expertise. It was a big honking tumor though and readliy visible as I already mentioned.

In all fairness to my dentist, he has a practice in an upscale area and has seen about 3 or so oral cancer patients during his entire career (almost 40 years and he is semi-retired). I'm not ripping dentists here but there's nothing like going to a specialist for a complicated area like the head and neck.

In my case, a lump was noted on my neck during a pre-op exam for a colonoscopy. Since I was in the middle of a crown, I was sent to my dentist. My dentist said it might be due to an old root canal, so he sent me to get the root canal redone. After the root canal redo and 10 days of antibiotics, the lump was still there, so my GP sent me to get a sonogram. The sonogram didn't seem to help much, so my GP sent me to a H&N surgeon who did a needle biopsy. This ID'd cancer which led to a PET/CT, etc. The entire identification process itself took over 2 months.

If someone along the line had said, "don't worry about it, I don't think it's cancer" I more than likely would have breathed a sigh of relief and glady put it aside. Of course, knowing what I know NOW, I would never do that - but this wisdom comes only after a tough experience.

I had multiple visits (over an extended period of time) with my dentist, my GP and finally an oral pathologist at a major dental school, all of whom told me the very visible, growing, and painful lump on my tongue was nothing serious and I didn't need to worry about it. They assured me I didn't fit the risk profile for oral cancer, and the pathologist said the fact that the lump was painful was almost certainly proof that it wasn't cancer! However, when I finally insisted on seeing an oral surgeon, he was the one who recognized the immediate need to get a biopsy, and he then put me in touch with a medical oncologist who has been in charge of my care ever since. (This was way back in the days before the internet, and information on OC was really scarce.)

I guess this illustrates that sometimes you can get a series of wrong opinions, and if collectively they don't make sense, you have to keep pushing for reasonable answers.

Cathy