Whether boys should get the vaccine or not has become political. Women and girls are getting the $360 shot in order to prevent contacting HPV — a sexually transmitted disease.
By getting the shot, they’re effectively shouldering the burden of STD prevention in addition to birth control.
But boys are at risk too and can contact anal and penile cancers and throat and oral cancers. The FDA recommended in September that boys get the Gardasil shot.
When it comes to the shot for boys, however, the discussion centers on whether it’s cost effective — not whether it will increase boys’ promiscuity as some have argued about the shot for girls.
Oral cancer, which can be caused by HPV infection, is serious. It kills. The question isn’t whether the HPV vaccine is cost effective or if it increases promiscuity. The question really is, how valuable is your child’s life?
The death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of more “famous” cancers, such as cervical, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, laryngeal, testicular, and skin (malignant melanoma).
And, oral cancer is growing at double-digit rates — despite declines in alcohol and tobacco use.
For this reason alone, oral cancer is showing up in the younger adult population — and the fastest growing group is young women.
Thus begins the introduction to New York dentist Lawrence A. Hamburg’s story about fighting oral cancer, Living 15 Minutes at a Time, in the March issue of Inside Dentistry. Dr. Hamburg hopes that by telling his story he’ll educate dentists and patients alike — and encourage both to give and ask for oral cancer screenings.
Dr. Hamburg noticed a “superball-sized mass” at the base of his tongue and a secondary tumor the size of a baseball in a lymph node in his neck. He ignored both for about six months until he asked his hygienist and then a doctor friend what they thought.
He then had an MRI — which showed he had cancer. Once he was diagnosed, he underwent five months of chemo, 33 radiation sessions, radiation implant therapy, and surgery at Beth Israel in New York.
Two years later, he’s in remission, but as he says, he’s one of the lucky ones. That’s because 78% of those diagnosed with Stage IV oral cancer are dead five years later.
Dr. Hamburg has gone “public” with his story because he wants his fellow dentists to perform oral cancer screening on all patients. According to Brian Hill, president of the Oral Cancer Foundation, people diagnosed with Stage One oral cancer have an 80% to 90% survival rate.
And early detection is easily done using new technologies such as Trimira Identafi or ViziLite Plus coupled with the ADA recommended conventional visual and tactile examination. The gold standard for detecting oral cancer continues to be biopsy.
What can you do to help lower your risk for oral cancer?
Limit alcohol consumption and don’t smoke.
Practice safe sex — use a condom each and every time.
Don’t have oral sex with multiple partners as this increases your chance for oral cancer.
Ask your dentist to screen for oral cancer each time you go in for your regular check-up.
Most important, if you have type of suspicious sore, lesion or lump in your mouth, see your dentist. The earlier you get this problem diagnosed, the better off you’ll be.
The following video from Trimaira shows how its technology screens for oral cancer.
If I were to ask you how to keep your body healthy, you would most likely answer “diet and exercise,” “live a healthy lifestyle,” or “don’t smoke.”
Yet, if I told you that your number one tool for preventing disease is right in your bathroom, you might start laughing.
It’s true — your toothbrush, that light-weight, colorful piece of plastic, is your secret weapon in prolonging your life and keeping your body healthy.
It’s only been recently that researchers have discovered that gum disease (also known as periodontal disease), can lead to all sorts of complications, including miscarriages and low-birth weight babies, pneumonia in the elderly, diabetes, and even heart disease.
It stands to reason that our oral health affects our physical health: our mouths are full of bacteria — bacteria that don’t stay put in our months!
In Keep Your Body Healthy . . . Brush Your Teeth!, you’ll learn how periodontal disease affects your whole body health and how you can ensure your mouth — and by extension, your body — is happy and healthy for years to come.
This is a free e-book — absolutely no registration required. Simply click the link to download your copy, forward to friends, or post on your blog.
I’m very passionate about educating my patients and the public about oral health and am very happy to provide information about periodontal disease in an easy-to-read, fun e-book that explains the disease, why everyone needs to be aware of it, and how to prevent it (hint: go brush your teeth!).
Colgate has been running ads in magazines explaining the connection between your oral health and whole body health. The ad copy tells people to visit www.colgatetotal.com.
The company has been publishing the results of its research for years at dental professionals; this consumer marketing campaign is new — and much needed.
When you visit the Colgate Total site, you’ll find lots of information about how oral inflammation (gum disease) is associated with other diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, pregnancy complications, and respiratory disease.
The company is also running TV commercials with Brooke Shields and other celebrities.
Kudos to Colgate for this much needed educational campaign!
In response to the increased risk of preterm births and low birth weight babies of pregnant women with periodontal disease, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recently revised its oral health guidelines for pregnant women.
Accord to the press release, the guidelines are based on:
“studies that suggest that proper dental care during the perinatal period may help prevent preterm and low birth-weight babies. . . . Many women, however, are unaware of the implications poor oral health can have on themselves and their babies and often don’t seek oral care during pregnancy.
Additionally, mothers with poor oral health may be at greater risk of infecting their children with the bacteria that causes cavities, increasing their children’s caries risk at an early age.”
The AAPD’s new oral health guidelines for pregnant women include:
Better oral health education from all healthcare providers, including nurses and physicians, before a woman becomes pregnant.
Daily brushing and flossing on the part of the expectant woman.
Dietary education on the part of healthcare providers to help expectant mothers understand how their food choices can impact their oral health.
Using a fluoridated toothpaste approved by the ADA as well as rinsing with an over-the-counter fluoride rinse to help reduce plaque levels.
Ensuring the expectant mom receives professional dental care during her pregnancy in order to fix cavities and monitor her oral health.
Chewing xylitol gum, which evidence suggests can help decrease a child’s rate of getting cavities.
You can learn more about how to improve your oral health by downloading my free e-book: Keep Your Body Healthy . . . Brush Your Teeth! (Just click the image over on the right.)
I’ve become pretty passionate about the increase in oral cancer in young women and the reasons why young women should get tested for this deadly cancer when they visit their dentist.
According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, each day 100 individuals are diagnosed with oral cancer — and that’s just in the US!
In addition, one person dies of oral cancer every hour of every day.
States the Oral Cancer Foundation:
When found early, oral cancers have an 80 to 90 % survival rate. Unfortunately at this time, the majority are found as late stage cancers, and this accounts for the very high death rate of about 45% at five years from diagnosis, and high treatment related morbidity in survivors.
Late stage diagnosis is not occurring because these cancers are hard to discover, it is because of a lack of public awareness coupled with the lack of a national program for opportunistic screenings which would yield early discovery by medical and dental professionals.
As an FYI, I have alerted the local media to this story but not one has followed up with me. Very disconcerting — and frightening. You would think that informing consumers about oral cancer would be a public service announcement.
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.
