About Mouth Cancer

Mouth cancer is the result of cells in your mouth growing abnormally and out of control. It’s sometimes referred to as oral cancer. Around one in 55 men and one in 108 women in the UK will be diagnosed with mouth cancer at some point in their lifetime^*.

The earlier mouth cancer is diagnosed, the more effective treatment is likely to be. So it’s important to recognise any symptoms and get them checked out by a dentist or doctor as soon as you can.

Mouth cancer can start anywhere in your mouth, including:

Your cheek lining and inside of your lip
The floor of your mouth and undersurface of your tongue
The edges of your tongue
Your gums, including the triangle area of the gum behind your back teeth

Nine out of 10 mouth cancers grow in the flat, skin-like cells that line the inside of your mouth. These are called squamous cell carcinomas.

Other, rarer types of mouth cancer include:

Salivary gland cancer, which starts in your salivary gland cells
Lymphoma, which can start in lymph tissue near the base of your tongue and tonsils
Melanoma, which can start in skin pigment cells in your mouth or on your lips

Symptoms of mouth cancer

You might not notice any symptoms at first if you have mouth cancer. But as the cancer progresses, you may start to develop different symptoms depending on which part of your mouth is affected. These can include:

A lump in your mouth or on your lip that doesn’t go away after a couple of weeks
An ulcer in your mouth that isn't healing
A lump in your neck or enlarged lymph nodes in your neck
A sore throat that you’ve had for a long time, and doesn’t seem to be getting better
Difficulty or pain when chewing or swallowing
Unexplained bleeding in your mouth
Difficulty moving your jaw
Red, or red and white patches in your mouth
Numbness of your lip or another part of your mouth
Loose teeth or dentures that no longer fit you properly
Difficulties with your speech – you may sound hoarse or quieter, or you may slur your words
Pain in your ear – caused by damage to a nerve near your tongue
Unexplained weight loss

These symptoms aren't necessarily signs of mouth cancer, but if you have any of them, see your dentist.

Diagnosis of mouth cancer

Your dentist might spot the early signs of mouth cancer during a routine check-up.

If you see your dentist with symptoms of mouth cancer, they’ll ask you some questions about your symptoms and your medical history. They may ask to examine your mouth, as well as feel your neck and face to check for swellings.

If your dentist thinks your symptoms could be due to mouth cancer, they will refer you to a doctor specialising in mouth cancer.

The specialist may want to take a biopsy (a small sample of tissue) from the affected area. This will be sent to a lab for testing to check if there are any cancerous cells. If the affected area is in a place they can access easily, they may just give you a local anaesthetic to numb the area and gently remove a small piece of tissue.

Sometimes, your doctor may need to use a special instrument called a nasoendoscope or laryngoscope to look at the affected area and take a biopsy. These are narrow, flexible tubes that can be passed up your nose and into your throat.

Treatment of mouth cancer

If you're found to have cancer, you will usually need to have other tests to see how big your cancer is and whether it’s spread. This is called staging. Staging can help doctors estimate how your cancer is likely to progress, and what the best course of treatment is for you.

What treatment you’re offered will depend on what type of mouth cancer you have, where it is and how far it’s spread. Your doctor will discuss your treatment options with you. If you smoke, they will encourage you to stop before you start any treatment. This is because smoking can increase your risk of complications and reduce the chance that treatment will work.

You will usually be offered surgery or radiotherapy first. Your doctor may also suggest other non-surgical treatments, such as chemotherapy and biological therapy.

Surgery

The aim of surgery is to remove all of the cancer. Exactly what type of surgery you’ll need will depend on where your cancer is, how big it is and whether it’s spread. Your surgeon will explain what they’re planning and what to expect afterwards.

Prevention of mouth cancer

Making some simple lifestyle changes can reduce your risk of mouth cancer. These include the following.

If you smoke or chew tobacco, try to stop
Cut down your alcohol consumption, ensuring you don’t exceed the 14 units per week advised by the NHS (14 units is equivalent to 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of low-strength wine.)
Look after your teeth and visit your dentist for regular check-ups. Your dentist will look for signs of mouth cancer during every check-up
Make sure you are following a healthy, balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables

If you think you might have mouth cancer or are concerned about potential symptoms, get in touch with your dentist as soon as possible. If you need a new dentist, find your local Bupa Dental Care practice.

Most people are aware that smoking is detrimental to their general health, but very few are aware that it can also affect their oral health, their gums, and their teeth. One of the main things that it causes is tooth loss, gum disease, stained teeth, and if taken more seriously, it can even cause mouth cancer.

So the products in cigarettes and tobacco, i.e., tar, can cause the teeth to start to look yellow and even brown over time. There are products out in the market that can help you with that, but it's worth bearing in mind that they don't change the inherent color of the teeth; they just help to remove that extrinsic staining.

Yes, I'm afraid it will. One of the things that it causes is constriction—vasoconstriction—of the small blood vessels in the gums. Simply put, this is bad because it stops nutrients being brought into the tissues and the gums, and it stops toxins from being taken out. So the healing capacity of the gums is slowed down, and therefore the gums are more likely to develop gum disease.

Yes, there's quite a few different whitening-type toothpastes that can be used for smokers. It's worth being aware that these are quite abrasive products, though, so you may wish to speak to your dental team about whether it's good to use them all the time. Most dental teams would recommend that you alternate the use of quite abrasive toothpaste with just a normal fluoride toothpaste. As a smoker as well, you also want to be very aware that you keep up with your interdental cleaning—so the use of floss and interdental brushes as well as brushing well with a toothbrush.

Your dentist for a regular dental checkup will tell you what the recall interval should be, dependent on your risk. It is really important, though, as a heavy smoker or drinker, that you do go to the dentist regularly because the dentist will be looking for early signs of changes of the skin inside your mouth.

Yes, I'm afraid they will. There's a few telltale signs that they'll be looking out for. One of the things is that you see less bleeding when you check the gums. You can also see a little bit more bacterial buildup on the tongue—so a little bit more debris. You also can see some delta white patches around the mouth, and the palate—the roof of the mouth—often looks slightly paler.

The truth of the matter here is that at the moment we just don't know. There's not enough long-term research to really suggest the effect that vaping long term has. What we do know is that it would be better than smoking traditional cigarettes or chewing tobacco, but it's not going to be as healthy for you as quitting altogether. If you think about what you're doing when you're vaping, essentially you're continually sucking in a load of vapor which contains a mixture of different chemicals, so we just don't know if that's safe for you or not.

Causes of mouth cancer

The most common causes of mouth cancer are smoking and drinking more alcohol than recommended.

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is also thought to cause cancer of the mouth in some people. You’re at greater risk of HPV-associated mouth cancer the more sexual partners you have, especially if you have oral sex.

Mouth Cancer