The incidence of oral cancer continues to rise in the United States, claiming nearly 1 life an hour. Men are twice as likely as women to get oral cancer. The most alarming thing about the growing rates of oral cancer is that up to 25% of new cases are from people who do not have any of the traditional risk factors, such as age, tobacco or alcohol use. Early detection significantly increase survival rates from 9% to 85% — for this reason, we perform a full intra and extra-oral cancer screening at every initial exam, hygiene appointment and most restorative appointments. If there is a significant finding that requires a biopsy, we use an oral pathologist that specializes in reading abnormalities of the oral tissue to reduce chance of misdiagnosis.
Oral-Pharyngeal survivor, Eva Grayzel, has amazing resources to learn more about oral cancer as well as how to perform a self-exam. Dr. Duke saw her speak 20 years ago, just a few years after Eva’s diagnosis and treatment for late stage cancer, and again in 2021.
