Regular Dental Checks Could Save Your Life

Tue, 13 Nov 2007

A former cancer patient has urged people not to neglect regular dental check-ups and has stressed the importance of having good oral health, after a routine visit to the dentist saved her life .

Figures from the British Dental Health Foundation have revealed that someone in the UK dies of mouth cancer every five hours.

Ann Bennett, from Dallington, Northamptonshire, said a visit to the dentist three years ago saved her from losing her life to mouth cancer .

She said: "It was a normal dental appointment but my dentist spotted a cluster of ulcers . He told me that if it was not gone within two or three weeks then he would refer me to the hospital ."

"Unfortunately, it was cancer but that check-up caught it in time and it obviously saved my life ."

Mrs Bennett, currently raising awareness about oral cancer through the Facefax Support Centre during Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, feared not enough people were aware of how prevalent the disease could be – a factor reflected by dentists in Northamptonshire, who said many of their patients had no idea of the dangers.

Dr Anesh Patel, joint owner of Cliftonville Dental Care, said: "We don't often have patients coming in worried about ulcers in their mouths and it is almost always a case of picking it up through routine check-ups."

"Smokers are more aware than most groups because they have a higher incidence than the rest of the population, but most other people fail to recognise it as a problem," he added.

Dental experts met last week in the House of Commons to discuss plans for more research into mouth cancer and launch the awareness week.

Experts revealed that although the number of people killed by all cancer has fallen by 15 per cent in the last 30 years, the number of deaths in the UK related to mouth cancer remain static.
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