Early diagnosis of cancer leads to early treatment and may save the life of your patient. This course will help you to do this.
According to the American Dental Association over 42,000 Americans were diagnosed with oral or throat cancer last year. This figure may be low because oral cancer is not commonly diagnosed in the dental office. Over a forty-eight-year span, I have diagnosed only three patients with cancer. One was on the palate, and the other two were in the floor of the mouth.
Usually we diagnose tumors or cysts in the X-ray, but we can also see them clinically by looking for swellings on the face, palate, tongue, or alveolar ridge. Cyst can also cause pain and tenderness.
Non Cancerous Conditions of the Mouth
Boney outgrowths, tori, on the mandible or palate are not cancer, but if the hard bony perturbance is off the center line in the palate, you should suspect cancer. There are other cysts in mouth that are benign.
Usually cancer cyst and tumors have thick membranes over....