Oral Cancer FAQ in Orange County, California

Oral cancer is basically cancer inside your mouth. It could be in the soft tissues, the tongue, the floor of the mouth, the roof of the mouth, or your jaw. Generally speaking, anything that's beyond your lips or maybe on your lips is considered oral cancer.

Oral cancer could be caused by a variety of things. It could be because of a lot of alcohol intake, smoking, eating certain foods, putting tobacco products in your mouth, vaping, or sometimes it's a bacterial or viral infection that could also cause it. A longstanding sore could turn into oral cancer if not attended to.

Oral cancer can usually be identified with a bump, a sore, or something that seems unnatural that wasn't there before, but is now there and should definitely be checked out for oral cancer.

Oral cancer sometimes can have no symptoms, which is why it's dangerous to go a long time without a dental checkup. Something can grow significantly without being noticed, which could delay discovery. Nobody besides the dentist looks inside the mouth for cancer unless the patient complains about something. It's really important to visit a dentist so that you can get checked out for oral cancer.

Oral cancer can be very innocuous. It can be a little tiny ulcer or a lump, or a bump hiding somewhere. It could be inside your jaw. I had it inside my jaw, and it was never discovered until I noticed something odd and pursued it because I'm a really good dentist, and that's why I'm alive today.

Oral cancer can appear on the tongue, cheeks, lips, or palate. These are the most common areas, but it could hide pretty much anywhere.

A lump on the gum is rarely cancerous. It should first be checked for tooth or gum infection to ensure those are absent. Then, your dentist can help guide you if they think it is cancer.

HPV is known to cause cancer and it could cause cancer of the mouth or other private parts of the body. Nowadays, there are vaccinations available for HPV for young children. The HPV virus can have no symptoms, so you might not even know you have it, and yes, it could cause cancer.

Oral cancer is diagnosed by a physical check. The doctor will do a visual check and palpate different areas of your head, neck, or mouth to see if you have any bumps or lesions. We also do a test with a light, which is an early detection method for cancer. It's completely painless and allows us to see the tissues under the top layer to help with early detection of cancer.

An oral cancer screening involves a check by the dentist and an additional oral cancer screening test with a light. If something suspicious is found, it is usually recommended to biopsy it to determine whether it's actually cancer or benign.

Oral cancer, like any other cancer, has much better outcomes if discovered early. It usually then involves just a simple excisional biopsy, meaning the lesion is removed and biopsied. Hopefully, it's negative, or that's all the treatment needed. If found late, it might involve more extensive surgery along with chemo or radiation.