Mouth Cancer and Cigarette Smoking Another Reason to Quit
In the past ten years or so, there has been an extreme rise in mouth cancer cases in the UK, but the public seems to have no idea. The link between smoking cigarettes and mouth cancer seems to have been mostly ignored so far by the public, so the President of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy would like to fill everyone in on this subject.
Almost everyone knows that cigarettes can cause high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, and lung cancer. However, it is not as common for people to know that mouth cancer is also linked to smoking.
The Facts and Figures
Oral Cancer
Recently, the Cancer Research UK exposed the statistical results showing how fast mouth cancer is rising in the UK. As a matter of fact, in the past 10 years, mouth cancer has increased by almost 35%, which adds up to be more than 7,000 people annually. This makes mouth cancer one of the top 10 most common cancers in the UK and the 15th most common in females. In fact, it is the 14th most commonly reported cancer in Britain.
The results show that close to 2/3 of those with mouth cancer got it as a result of smoking cigarettes. The British Dental Health Foundation found that one out of every four people had no idea that smoking could cause mouth cancer. Approximately 5,000 cases of mouth cancer are caused by cigarette smoking in the UK annually. You can cut your risks down to 1/3 if you quit smoking. This would save about 1,700 people per year from getting mouth cancer.
How to Prevent Mouth Cancer
The dentists of the UK want to come together to spread the word so they can save millions of people per year from this horrible disease. They want you to know how easy it is to NOT get mouth cancer. Just do not smoke. It is that simple. Dental professionals are able to pass along this information to their patients whether they smoke or not, so they can spread the word as well. It can be a chain of knowledge, led by you. If you tell 10 people and they each tell 10 people, that is 100 people. If that 100 each tell 10 people, that is 1,000 people you helped just by telling a few people what you heard at the dentist’s office.
How Do You Know if You Have Mouth Cancer
There are several signs that you may have mouth cancer. If you are a smoker and you notice these symptoms, you should think about getting checked. Here are the symptoms:
- Lumps, sores, thick patches in the throat, mouth, or lips
- Discolored patch in your mouth (i.e. red, pink, white)
- Constantly feeling that there is something stuck in your throat
- Trouble with trying to chew or swallow
- Inability to move your jaws or tongue
- Loss of sensation in the tongue or mouth
- Inflammation in the jawline
- Sudden feeling that your dentures do not fit right
- Ear pain with no loss of hearing