The calendar is full of days, weeks, and months devoted to celebrating or raising awareness of different things – almost too many to count and some for downright odd events. For example, this month you can celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. April is also Oral Cancer Awareness Month. We think it’s important – and not just because we are a dental practice. 

While most cases of oral cancer in the past were found in people 50 and older who smoked, a growing number of non-smokers are now being diagnosed. According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, about 54,000 new cases will be found in 2022. Some of them are people who earlier had the HPV16 virus. This risk factor is often found in younger people with oral cancer.

Dr. Schope looks for signs of oral cancer during your dental exams. If she finds any, she will likely recommend you have a biopsy. We recommend visiting Schope Dental every six months for an exam, so we can find problems in their earliest stages when they are simple to treat.

As with other kinds of cancer, early detection is the key to long-term survival with oral cancer. So it’s a good idea to perform self-exams at home between your visits to our Colorado Springs, CO office. Fortunately it’s easy to do! This video shows you how.

Ready to schedule your next exam? Call us at 719-675-5238 today.

Learn to perform an oral cancer self-exam. from MyOMS.org on Vimeo.