What Should You Expect During An Oral Cancer Screening?
Your healthcare professional might use a combination of oral cancer screening methods, which includes palpation, visual exam, oral screening dyes, and lights. They can also capture photographs of areas with abnormalities with the aim of monitoring. In general, the oral screening procedure does not take more than five minutes.
Visual examination
Your healthcare professional will look for lesions in your throat and mouth during this examination stage. The abnormalities can include erythroplakia and leukoplakia.
Palpation
Your healthcare provider will use his/her fingers to look for bumps or lumps around your neck, face, and jaw. You should be careful to inform him/her if there are any other sore or tender areas.
Oral cancer screening dye
Many healthcare professionals use oral cancer screening tools like toluidine blue dye to look for signs of oral cancer. They coat the lesions with dye which can help identify areas more likely to become cancerous.
Oral cancer screening light
There are also special lights available that can help identify tissue abnormalities in your mouth. To use this tool, your healthcare professional will ask you to rinse your mouth with a fluorescent mouthwash. Next, he/she will use the special light in your mouth, where the healthy tissue looks dark, and the abnormal tissue seems white.