HEALTH FACT: Oral Cancer

People should start being routinely checked by a dentist for oral cancer. 50,000 people per year are diagnosed with a form of oral cancer. ---- #HealthFactFriday #DeafHealth @DHCQoL @NAD1880 @DeafSeniorsAmerica @NIHORWH [VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Kim is standing in front of a dark background. Clip begins with a freeze frame in black and while. A yellow box in the top right corner appears with black text “HEALTH FACT”. White text appears in near left center, “what is ORAL CANCER?” as a white line underlines it. KIM: What is Oral cancer? Oral cancer affects approximately 50,000 people with roughly 8,000 deaths per year. Oral cancer is the cancer of the lips, tongue, cheeks, floor of mouth, palates, sinuses and/or throat. It can spread to other organs and nodes. Oral cancer can be life threatening if it is not diagnosed and treated early. Most common causes of oral cancer come from smoking, smokeless tobacco products, excessive alcohol use, family history of cancer and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) but can occur to anyone. A dentist can do an oral cancer screening and diagnose oral cancers. If a dentist has concerns during an exam, the dentist can do a biopsy to verify any oral cancer. People older than 20 years old should have an oral cancer exam by a dentist every three years while those over 40 years old should have an annual exam. Clip fades out to a white background with black text in center, “This project was made possible with funding from the National Institutes of Health/NDICD (#5R01DC01446395 and supplements awarded to Poorna Kushalnagar, Ph.D.).” Next clip, white background with three logos -- Deaf Seniors of America’s logo and the NAD’s logo are in a row, centered, underneath both logos is the Deaf Health Communication and Quality of Life Center’s logo.]