Oral Cancer Awareness

Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently asked questions

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

  1. How do I prevent oral cancer ?
  2. Is Tobacco the only cause of Oral Cancer ?
  3. Why is that not all people consuming tobacco have oral cancer ?
  4. Who is more susceptible to oral cancer ?
  5. I have a precancerous lesion in my mouth, would I get cancer ?
  6. How is the diagnosis established ?
  7. What is the treatment available ?
  8. what is the approximate cost ?
  9. I Occasionally chew tobacco/smoke, and keep tobacco only for very short time. Am I susceptible for cancer ?
  10. My friend has been told that he has oral cancer, but he does not believe it. what to do?
  11. My dentist has recommended the biopsy of the premalignant lesion. What should I do?
  12. I have oral cancer and I am taking ayurvedic medicine. Will that help? 
  13. My Friend had cancer after tooth extraction. Was the doctor negligent?

 


How do I prevent oral cancer ?

Stopping all the habits of tobacco consumption. Stopping means complete stop to the habit. Reducing the consumption of tobacco does not reduce your risk of cancer. But stopping certainly reduces the risk.

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Is tobacco the only cause of oral cancer ?

Tobacco is the major cause of oral cancer but certainly not the only cause. Their are other causes like poor oral hygiene, chronic trauma from sharp tooth or an ill fitting dentures. Their are other agents like some viruses which are thought to cause or expedite the effect of tobacco in causing oral cancer.

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Why is that not all people consuming tobacco have oral cancer ?

Their are many factors like genetic make of the person, his diet and many unknown factors that  increases or decreases the susceptibility of person of  having oral cancer. But one thing is certain that tobacco consumption increases your susceptibility by almost 8 times. That means a person consuming tobacco is more prone to have oral cancer or other tobacco related problems.

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Who is more susceptible to oral cancer ?

Anybody consuming tobacco is susceptible to oral cancer. Differences in genetics have not been identified in relation to risk and survival. That means a Caucasian or a mongoloid, Black race all are equally prone to oral cancer if they consume tobacco. 

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I have a precancerous lesion in my mouth, would I get cancer ?

It depends on whether you continue your habit or not. If you stop your habit then your chances of getting oral cancer decreases drastically. But it is always better to get your precancerous lesion checked by a Dentist. He will suggest you the best thing for you and may be he will take a biopsy sample of the lesion for histo-pathological check up. Or he may apply some specific Dyes to the lesion so that check its neoplastic potential..

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How is the diagnosis established ?

Diagnosis is established by many ways like applying dyes like Toluidine blue which may give false positive results in inflammatory lesion but never false negative, using X rays and scans to see the extension of the lesion and the bony involvement and the most confirmatory test is biopsy of the lesion and its histo-pathological examination

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What is the treatment available ?

Treatment is surgery, and in advanced cases surgery followed by radiation therapy is done. But even that is not always successful as 70% of the cases after treatment leads to relapse and the result is death. The treatment is successful only if the lesion is diagnosed early, but sadly many times, it is ignored and the patient reports when the lesion has spread so much that the treatment is impossible or even if done the long term prognosis is poor

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What is the approximate cost ?

Cost involved is approximately Rs 350,000/- . The cost may vary because of many things like the extent of the lesion, any metastasis and many other factors.

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I Occasionally chew tobacco/smoke, and keep tobacco only for very short time. Am I susceptible for cancer ?

Tobacco has many chemicals which can cause cancer and lower intake doesn't mean less susceptibility. If a person is genetically more predisposed then even little consumption can trigger malignancy.

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My friend has been told that he has oral cancer, but he does not believe it. what to do?

Cancer is very well treated with fewer complication in early stages. So if a doctor has said that your friend has cancer than don't neglect it. If you don't believe get it checked from an authority. Remember time is an essence here. Even if their is slight delay the prognosis rapidly goes from good to bad to worse.

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My dentist has recommended the biopsy of the premalignant lesion. What should I do?

 Biopsy is the only confirmatory test of whether you have oral cancer or not. If your Dentist has recommended a biopsy he has given you the right advise. Go ahead and do it at once without any delay. 

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I have oral cancer and I am taking ayurvedic medicine. Will that help?   

I am not an authority on ayurvedic medicine. But it has been generally noted that ayurvedic medicines don't work once you have oral cancer and you have to undergo surgery. So don't wait, get the surgery done at once. May be if the lesion has not progressed you will have a excellent prognosis.

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My Friend had cancer after tooth extraction. Was the doctor negligent?

No! You can never have oral cancer with any dental procedure performed by your Dentist. The predominant sign of alveolar and gingival carcinoma is mobile tooth/teeth, and only after extraction when the socket doesn't heal and their is some growth, you find out that the tooth/teeth were mobile because of cancer. This is a case of misdiagnosis and not wrong treatment. This type of diagnosis can be missed even by the best of Dentist. Usually such cases give a history of tobacco consumption.


Contributed by Dr Suwas Darvekar.
Copyright © 2003  [Sangeeta Darvekar Charitable  Trust]. All rights reserved.
Revised: July 22, 2004 .

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