ORAL CANCER
(lower lip, jawbone, tongue, lining of mouth)
Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, was faced with the consequences of decades of indiscriminate pain chewing. His visage still bears testimony of his fight with mouth cancer nine years ago.
Sigmund Freud’s pipe was a signature statement of coolness, but it also gave him cancer of the jaw.
You are in the danger zone if you
- smoke more than two packets a day; smoke cigars, pipes; chew tobacco and gutka, inhale snuff
- drink more than 6 pegs daily. Together alcohol and tobacco create a lethal combination
- suffer oral irritation from sharp edges of teeth, fillings, dentures, pipe stem
Ominous Clues
- painful nerve endings from oral erosion
- that worsens when eating, because saliva stimulates secretion of saline
- rough hard lumps in the mouth
- white ridged bump on inside of cheeks where tobacco is chewed
- discoloured areas on the gums, tongue, lining of the mouth
- brown, flat freckle-like area at the insulted site
Confirmation
- Biopsy
The fight back plan
- Avoid excessive alcohol intake, tobacco chewing!smoking.
- If you smoke and drink, use a mouthwash with the lowest concentration of alcohol.
- See your dentist regularly to smoothen rough edges of teeth and fillings.
- Get more antioxidant vitamins A and E from orange, yellow and
- green veggies and other fruits.
- Visit your dentist every six months.