Mouth cancer (or oral cancer) is one of the most prevalent and dangerous type of oral disease that plagues our society today. It usually affects elderly people, regardless of gender. Mouth cancer develops and can affect any part of the mouth, such as the tongue, gums, lips, teeth, tonsils and pharynx. If it’s not given immediate attention, it can be fatal. This is why if you’re exhibiting symptoms and signs of mouth cancer, you should immediately visit a physician to get a proper diagnosis.
A mouth cancer diagnosis is an oral check up or observation by which a professional physician analyzes symptoms and determines the probability of cancer in a person, as well as its present stage. Getting a mouth cancer diagnosis is very important, since it lets a person understand his or her condition, as well as find out what possible treatment methods can be used to remove the disease.
Mouth cancer diagnosis are made by accredited medical experts, such as oral surgeons, dentists and physicians. If you’re planning to have a diagnosis, make sure that you consult a professional physician whose field of expertise lies in the oral body areas.
The first step in a mouth cancer diagnosis is a one-on-one discussion between the patient and the physician. During this stage, the physician asks about the patient’s medical history and the symptoms that he or she is feeling. Afterwards, the physician would take a small mouth tissue sample, or a biopsy, from the patient to be observed and analyzed in the laboratory. The biopsy would then be examined under a microscope by pathologists.
After this primary diagnosis, patients would also be asked to undergo other types of examinations, such as magnetic resonance image scans or MRIs, computed tomography or CT scans, and x-rays to determine how much the mouth cancer has spread. The CT scan shows two-dimensional images of the neck and head that would show if the cancer has invaded other organs or tissues already. MRIs also serve the same purpose, except that they show three-dimensional views. X-rays gives one-dimensional images.