Mouth Cancer Action Month

November is Mouth Cancer Action Month, a charity campaign run by the Oral Health Foundation. The aim is to raise awareness of mouth cancer and make a difference by saving lives through early detection and prevention.

Early detection is crucial, so if you have noticed any of these signs or anything unusual in your mouth, please tell your dentist or doctor immediately:

• Ulcers that do not heal within three weeks
• Red-and-white patches in your mouth
• Unusual lumps or swellings in your mouth, head and neck

Last year, 8846 people in the UK were diagnosed with mouth cancer: 6015 new cases were men and 2831 were women.

Around a third of mouth cancers occur in the tongue, and it is strongly associated with age; more than three in four (91%) mouth cancers are diagnosed in people over the age of 50.

The more we know about mouth cancer, the better chance we have of beating it. This means knowing how to spot mouth cancer early and acting quickly when we see something out of the ordinary by visiting your doctor or dentist.

We don’t know what causes most mouth cancers. However, there are several factors that are likely to increase your risk:

Smoking – around two-in-three (66%) mouth cancers are linked to smoking.

Alcohol – drinking more than 10 units of alcohol a week could increase the risk of mouth cancer by 81%.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) – HPV types 16 and 18 are linked to around three in four (73%) oropharyngeal cancers and more than one in ten (12%) oral cavity and hypopharynx cancers.

It is important to adopt a healthier lifestyle, be aware of what to look out for and see your dentist and hygienist regularly to enable early diagnosis and prompt treatment.