In order to make the public aware of the dangers of smokeless tobacco, Dr. Heidi Aaronson, DDS, teamed up with TRIMIRA, a company that makes an oral cancer screening test, to perform free oral cancer screenings at a July 7, 2009 Boston Red Sox game.

The oral cancer screening team also included students of Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity Gamma Chapter from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.

What a wonderful idea — and kudos to Dr. Aaronson and the TRIMIRA team for alerting the public to this very real health problem.

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, 100 people in the US will be diagnosed with oral cancer every day. The rates of oral cancer have been rising since 2008 due in part to young women being exposed to it via the HPV-16 virus — the same one that causes cervical cancer.

Even worse, one person every hour of every day dies from oral cancer.

The next time you visit your dentist, ask to be tested. The test doesn’t take long and it’s not expensive (usually less than $100) — and it can save your life.

While surfing the Internet, I came across this Today Show video about the questions women are afraid to ask their healthcare providers.

As a woman, you may believe that you can’t ask your dentist certain questions as well. Perhaps you have a lesion in your mouth and you’re not sure if you should have it checked.

Or, you have bad breath and no matter what you do, it doesn’t go away — making you feel self-conscious, especially around your significant other or spouse.

Like physicians, dentists are trained to deal with personal health issues, especially those that concern your mouth and sinuses. Many dentists, for example,  now offer devices to help with sleep apnea as well as testing for oral cancer.

I encourage you to ask your dentist any questions you may have about your oral health — and your overall body health as well. Your dentist can tell you if the medications you’re taking affect your oral health (for example, if you’re scheduled for oral surgery, it’s important for a dentist to know if you’re taking medications that thin the blood) or produce side effects, such as dry mouth or bad breath.

Well, it’s refreshing to see that the mainstream media is *finally* covering the link between oral sex and throat cancer — something I have been talking about for over a year now.

In fact, we’ve been trying to get the attention of the Today Show for MONTHS, only to be ignored for (pardon the pun) sexier topics.

You can view the very informative Good Morning America video with Diane Sawyer here.

You can also read my blog postings on this topic — as well as view the demonstration on how easy it is to screen for oral cancer — posted below.

All of this goes to show, if you want UP TO DATE information about your oral health, check the Dr. Helaine Smith Successful Smiles blog, first.

Study Debunks Oral Sex Myth — Maybe

STDs Affect One in Four Teenage Girls

Connection Between Throat Cancer and Oral Sex

And, don’t forget to download my e-book, “Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex,” which you can find in the margin to the right.

Testing for oral cancer is as easy as rinsing your mouth with a special solution — as this video I produced for YouTube shows.

The test allows dentists like myself to see cancer cells before they become apparent to the naked eye.

Edited to add: Be sure to check out my new Squidoo page for the ViziLite test!

The Monday, July 28, 2008 Boston Globe featured an article about the new ViziLite oral cancer test. The main thrust of the article is that it’s a waste of time and money.

You can read the full article here.

There is always someone who is willing to take the other side in a story in order to have their five minutes in the spotlight. It is not surprising the Globe did not have to look far to find a dentist not supporting a screening test that could save a life or prevent disfiguring surgery — especially when you have many dentists who still think amalgam fillings are ok.

Oral cancer is rising due to the link to HPV. When oral cancer is detected early it can save your life. At this point there are only two oral cancer screening tests, ViziLite Plus and VELscope, which can detect malignant cells. The research shows that the tests do aid in early detection.

The ViziLite Plus test, which is what I use, is not a harmful test; the patient only needs to rinse with a vinegar tasting liquid and open their mouths. What other cancer screening test is that simple and pain free?

The Globe also goes on about the cost of the test, and quotes one dentist who charges $80 — which, the Globe notes, insurance doesn’t cover.

I charge $70 dollars and offer the test to high risk patients and those who want it. Each kit costs about $40 dollars, so $30 dollars is not a huge profit, as any dentist will tell you. I do not do the screening to make money.

Doctors are now saying that women don’t need yearly mammograms, yet a woman I know was recently treated for breast cancer — cancer which was found during her annual exam. Where would she be today if she had had to wait an additional year for her exam?

The dentists opposed to the oral cancer screening test lower themselves to the status of tooth plumbers instead of mouth physicians. It is my job as a dentist to educate people on maintaining their oral health — which leads to whole body health — not simply scrape plaque off their teeth.

WebMD recently posted the results of a new survey that shows teenagers are NOT engaging more in oral sex as a replacement for intercourse.

Quoting WebMD, who quotes Laura Lindberg, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute,

There is a widespread belief that teens engage in nonvaginal forms of sex, especially oral sex, as a way to be sexually active while still claiming that technically, they are virgins. However, our research shows that this supposed substitution of oral sex for vaginal sex is largely a myth. There is no good evidence that teens who have not had intercourse engage in oral sex with a series of partners.

The article goes on to state that STDs are common and mentioned the link to oral cancer — which is all well and good, but it’s information most of us already know.

It also shouldn’t surprise anyone that teens are having sex.

The real issue — and one not brought up in the WebMD article or the survey — is that we as a country are not doing a good job of communicating the facts of STDs.

The fact that one in four girls gets one proves it — as does the fact that the U.S. has the highest rates of STDs *in the world.*

(Unbelievable if you ask me.)

Here locally a story ran in the Gloucester Times about the number of high school pregnancies spiking to three times the “normal” number.

According to the report, high school girls are intentionally becoming pregnant due to the influence of young Hollywood stars, such as Jamie Lynn Spears, doing so.

What this story confirms is that these young women, and many like them, do not use anything to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases.

Unfortunately, preaching abstinence is not going to work. Or, it should be followed up by education on the prevention and transmission of STDs.

It would be interesting to compare the rates of STDs in 15-year old girls from 20 years ago to see if anything has changed.

A study just released by the Centers for Disease Control states that 1 in 4 girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

According to the article in U.S. News and World report, the most common STDs are human papillomavirus (HPV) and chlamydia.

HPV, which has been long known to cause cervical cancer, is also thought to cause throat cancer and is transmitted via oral sex.

Oral cancer, or throat cancer, is a serious issue since 70% of oral cancers are diagnosed in the late states, III and IV, leading to a dismal five-year survival rate.

However, oral cancer is 90% curable if caught early.

If your dentist doesn’t already offer it, ASK for — no, DEMAND — that he or she test for oral and throat cancer using many of the tools available, such as ViziLite.

Dr. Helaine Smith’s Successful Smiles \ healthcast #6
download

This episode of Successful Smiles is the first in a series that explores the connection between your oral health and physical health.

In this episode, I discuss oral health, sex, and teenagers. According to the American Dental Association, oral cancer strikes over 34,000 Americans annually, with over 25% dying of the disease, which claims more lives than melanoma and cervical cancer. The death rate for this cancer is relatively high due to the fact that the disease is not detected early enough.

Additionally, research has indicated a link between the human papilloma virus (HPV) and oral cancer. Researchers at John Hopkins compared patients who had oral cancer with those who did not. The study revealed that those patients who had one to five oral sex partners doubled their risk for throat cancer and those with more than five increased their risk by 250% — and even more worrisome, increased their risk for the HPV-16 strain of virus by 750%. Over 70% of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV Types 16 and 18.

The podcast covers the following:

• The increase in STDs and how this increase is affecting young people between the ages of 15 and 24.
• How to protect yourself from STDs.
• The link between oral sex, HPV, and oral cancer.
• Why you should get tested for throat cancer if you’re sexually active and have one or more partners.

Send any questions about dental health, or suggestions for future podcasts, to helainesmithdmd@aol.com.

One thing many people don’t realize is that dentists check for more than cavities during a regular check-up.

They also check for signs of cancer, including cancers of the tongue, jaw, lips, and throat. In fact, according to the Mouth Cancer Foundation:

Oral and pharyngeal cancer is the sixth most common malignancy reported worldwide and one with high mortality ratios among all malignancies.

Even worse, people also don’t understand the connection between oral sex and one’s oral health. Many people mistakenly believe oral sex is “safe” sex because one can’t get pregnant or because the risk of transfering a sexually transmitted disease is lowered.

In fact, in a study found in the May 10, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers noted that people who had one to five oral sex partners doubled their risk for throat cancer.

Those who had more than five increased their risk by 250%.

Even more disturbing, the researchers believe oral sex transmits the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the same virus that causes cervical cancer in women.

According to a new CDC study, 1 in 4 U.S. women ages 14 – 59 have HPV.

With HPV rates so high, it behooves all sexually active men and women to wear condoms, even when performing oral sex.

And, should you or your partner exhibit any type of sore or lump anywhere in the mouth or on the tongue that doesn’t heal within three weeks, contact your dentist or medical professional immediately.