Oral Cancer Screening in Bethlehem, PA

An oral cancer screening is a careful look and feel over the soft tissues of the mouth, tongue, throat and neck, and it is part of the comprehensive examination at Always About Smiles, our Bethlehem, PA dental office. Both our hygienist and I perform intra-oral and external oral cancer screening, and it takes a couple of minutes.

The screening is intra-oral and external. Inside, we look over the tongue — top, underside and edges — the floor of the mouth, the cheeks, the palate, the gums and the back of the throat, and lift the tongue to see the areas a mirror at home never reaches. Outside, I feel along the jaw and neck and check the lips. It is looking and feeling, nothing more than that.

You don't have to ask for it. I conduct a thorough comprehensive examination of your teeth and gums including a review of your dental and medical history, an oral cancer screening, and any necessary diagnostic x-rays — so the screening is part of the examination rather than an extra you opt into. Our hygienist performs intra-oral and external oral cancer screening as part of her own work at the practice.

Most of what turns up is harmless — a bitten cheek, a spot where a denture rubs, a patch that has been there for years. Where I see something I want to watch, I tell you plainly what I've seen, note it, and bring you back in about two weeks to see whether it has changed. Most things have gone by then. Where something needs a biopsy, I arrange the referral myself.

An oral cancer screening is a visual and physical check of the soft tissues of the mouth and the neck, looking for anything that has changed — a patch of unusual color, a sore that hasn't healed, a lump, a rough or thickened area. It uses no needles, no dye and no x-rays. I do it at every comprehensive examination.

The screening is part of the comprehensive examination rather than a separate item on the bill, so having one doesn't add a charge. Our Patient Loyalty Program includes one to two exams a year, which means the screening comes with them. Where a lesion needs a specialist's opinion or a biopsy, that is a separate referral and separately quoted. Financing is available.

A couple of minutes, inside a normal examination appointment. You'll be asked to put your tongue out and move it side to side, and I'll feel along your jaw and neck. There's nothing to prepare for and nothing to recover from, which is why it doesn't need its own appointment.

It's a look and a gentle press with gloved fingers — no injection, no instrument, nothing that reaches the throat. The one moment people notice is having the tongue held to one side, and it lasts seconds. If you have a strong gag reflex, say so at the start and I work around it rather than through it.

At every comprehensive examination, which follows your own recare interval — those visits may be every 2, 3, 4, or even 6 months apart depending on your oral health. The value of a screening is comparison, so seeing the same mouth at regular intervals is what makes a change stand out. I keep notes of anything I'm watching.

Every adult patient, at every comprehensive examination, which is how we run it — nobody has to identify themselves as at risk to be screened. It is worth telling me if you smoke, chew tobacco, drink regularly, have had a lot of sun exposure on your lips, or have had a lesion before, because those are the histories I'll want to keep a closer eye on.