Mouth Cancer Action Month – November 2015

Mouth Cancer Action Month is held in November every year and is supported by the Mouth Cancer Foundation and the British Dental Health Foundation. Tewkesbury Dental offers free mouth cancer checks to patients and non- patients throughout the year. Call or email us to make your appointment.

Mouth cancer causes more deaths per number of cases than breast cancer, cervical cancer or melanomas.

• Around 60,000 people will be diagnosed with mouth cancer over the next decade.
• In the UK there were 7,700 cases of mouth, throat and head & neck cancers in 2011.
• Tobacco use is still considered the main cause of mouth cancer. According to the World Health Organisation, up to half of current smokers will die of a tobacco-related illness – including mouth cancer.
• Drinking to excess can increase the risk of mouth cancer by four times. Those who smoke and drink are up to 30 times more likely to develop mouth cancer.
• Mouth cancer is twice more common in men than in women, though an increasing number of women are being diagnosed with the disease.
• Age is another factor, with people over the age of 40 more likely to be diagnosed, though more young people are now being affected than previously.
• Poor diet is linked to a third of all cancer cases.
• Experts suggest the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), transmitted through oral sex, could overtake tobacco and alcohol as the main risk factor within the coming decade.
• Cancers can occur in any part of the mouth, tongue, lips, and adjacent areas like the throat, salivary glands, pharynx, larynx, sinus, and other sites in the head and neck area.

THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL IS GREATLY IMPROVED IF THE CANCERS ARE DETECTED EARLY AND TREATED RAPIDLY.

Without early detection it is estimated that over the next decade around 60,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with the disease and around 30,000 people will die. Worldwide, over 460,000 people are expected to die from mouth cancer each year by 2030.

For more information, visit http://www.mouthcancerfoundation.org/

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