Dr. Mogell Dental Blog

Boca Raton Cosmetic Dentist

Smokeless Tobacco and Oral Cancer

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Smokeless tobacco and oral cancer

Congratulations go out to the State of Montana for their implementation of a Clean Air Indoor Act! This legislation, according to the Billings Gazette is motivating the tobacco companies to promote smokeless tobacco as a "safe alternative to smoking"!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents such as polonium, formaldehyde, cadmium, cyanide, arsenic and lead.
As if it wasn't treacherous enough to our health with smoking tobacco, did you know that individuals using smokeless tobacco absorb 3 to 4 times more nicotine than their smoking counterparts?
Oral cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers diagnosed in the United States today. About 30,000 people who "dip or chew" are diagnosed with oral cancer annually. Deaths from oral cancer are in the range of 8,000 a year. If you survive the oral cancer it is usually with horrible disfiguring painful surgery.
The key to prevention is the obvious…stop using! With that in mind early detection and treatment has the potential to make a remarkable difference in the progression of any oral disease.
Today we have advanced techniques to aid in the diagnosis of oral cancer. We recommend an annual screening visually and with Vizilite. Vizilite screening consists of a solution to swish in your mouth and then scanning the oral tissues with a special light.
Please call our office today at 561-394-9000 to schedule an examination of your entire mouth to help eliminate this dreaded disease.

Kenneth A. Mogell, D.M.D.