Free screening for mouth cancer

13 people were diagnosed with oral cancer after last year’s Mouth Cancer Awareness Day and a free examination will be offered again on Wednesday 19 September.  

Approximately 10,000 people received free examinations nationally last year and dental professionals around the country will offer the service once more this year, including the Cork University Dental School and Hospital. 

“The most important message to remember”, says Dr Eleanor O’Sullivan, Cork University Dental School and Hospital and Chair of Mouth, Head & Neck Cancer Awareness Ireland, “is that any unexplained lesion present for more than three weeks should be referred for further investigation.”

Those wishing to attend Cork University Dental School & Hospital, Wilton for examination should ring the dedicated phone line for an appointment on 021-4901169. This number will be operational from 10am to 4pm, from now until 18 September inclusive. 

The screening will be simple, painless and take about five minutes. Follow-up appointments will be made for anyone who needs further investigation. Visitors to the Cork University Dental School and Hospital should go to the CUH complex in Wilton.  

Mouth, head and neck cancer is on the increase in Ireland yet remains a relatively unknown disease. It can affect the lips, gums, cheek, tongue, palate, tonsils, throat, salivary glands, sinuses, nose and larynx (voice box). Symptoms include ulcers that won’t heal, white, red or speckled patches, neck lumps or swellings and difficulty swallowing.  

Tobacco and alcohol are major causes of mouth cancer and international research indicates that individuals with an increased risk of oral cancer (males over 40 years, consuming more than 28 units of alcohol per week and smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day) rarely go to the dentist.

The prognosis for early oral cancer is extremely good, with five year survival rates of 80 per cent to 90 per cent. Survival rates, however, show a progressive reduction with advanced stage, with rates as low as 10 per cent to 35 per cent reported for advanced lesions. In Ireland, head and neck cancer represents approximately 2 per cent of cancer patients (registrations) and is responsible for 1.5 per cent (or 150) of cancer deaths each year.  

Dentists are currently the only primary health care professionals trained specifically in oral cancer examination. However, only a third of the adult Irish population visit a dentist annually, while less than 50 per cent visit bi-annually.  In fact, attendance rates among older adults, medical card holders and those with no natural teeth are even lower.  

Further details are available on the dedicated website www.mouthcancerawareness.ie.