November was mouth cancer awareness month across the U.K. As technicians we often have the opportunity to help raise awareness amongst patients who we may be meeting directly with, for example, the standard denture repair. Sometimes the denture is obviously not been looked after and is in very poor and sometimes, dirty condition. Be aware that hard deposits on the fit surface of the denture, is a potential irritant, which can lead toto to soft tissues being inflamed. That inflammation, if not addressed can become the source of a potential cancer.
Mouth Cancer is mainly age related, particularly affecting older men, but in recent years, drinking and smoking to excess has become almost normal across the age range so younger people are exposing themselves to the risk. Because of the foolish policy of administering the HPV Virus Vaccine to girls only, many young men are now showing signs of oral cancer and many other related conditions. The Government have finally accepted that the vaccine should be made available to teenage boys from 2019. Very good but we have quite a few years of catching up to do. The fact that the boys have not been vaccinated has increased the infection rate among teenage girls through social activities. Overall the age of mouth cancer victims is going down and the numbers are going up.