So I thought I'd start off a mouth cancer awareness post by 5 things that could potentially look like mouth cancer, but aren't (sneaky sneakers)!
A salivary stone presenting as a firm lump in the floor of the mouth (I would take a radiograph to check this out).
Pyogenic granuloma = benign inflammatory tongue lump.
A tooth growing (like an upper 8) causing trauma to the tissue and therefore ulceration (should heal 2-3W after extraction of the tooth).
Chronic hyperplastic candidiasis= Which is Bilateral and Symmetrical (treated with 50mg Fluconazole and smoking cessation).
Traumatic hyperplasia in denture wearers (should go within 4W when the denture is adjusted).
And now, here's 6 quite shocking stats about mouth cancer in 2019 in the UK:
Almost !!!8.5 thousand!!! new cases in the UK last year.
76% of cases were in >55 year olds.
There has been a 64% :( increase in mouth cancer in the last 10 years (whilst some other cancers have reduced due to improvements in medicine).
2701 Brits lost their lives to mouth cancer last year.
88% of adults have heard of mouth cancer.
70% are aware that smoking is a risk factor but only 36% are aware that alcohol is- here is our potential for brief intervention in the dental practice.
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