Symptoms of Oral Cancer

You may think that something as serious as oral cancer will have readily visible symptoms, but often times, oral cancer is asymptomatic in its early stages. Many patients may not even realize they have it until it is in a far more serious stage. Oral cancer can attack your mouth, lips, cheeks, throat, sinuses, and the floor of your mouth. Some of the main symptoms of oral cancer include:

• Constant sore throat

• Sudden, unexplained weight loss

• Red or white patches within the mouth

• Development of irregular lumps in the mouth, neck, or face

• Development of eroded patches in the lips, gums, or cheeks

• Apparition of rough spots on the mouth tissues

• Oral bleeding that is not a result of gingivitis

• Numbness in the facial area

• Tenderness or pain in the cheeks and mouth

• Constant pain within the ear

• Hoarseness that is not a result of a flu or cold

These symptoms could also be a result of a different illness, so the only way to make sure you know exactly what you have is to visit our North Hollywood dentists for a proper diagnosis. Nearly 30,000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer every year, and only a small percentage of those people will make a full recovery.

The best way to get the early treatment you need is to schedule an oral cancer screening with your dentist. The test only takes five minutes, and you can have it performed as part of your regular dental examination. If you have not seen your dentist in a while, schedule an appointment immediately.