06
May
Intra-Oral Exam, An Important Part of Oral Cancer Screening
At the office of Robert L. Holloway, DDS, we encourage our patients to schedule bi-annual checkups and cleanings to keep their smiles looking and feeling their best. Routine checkups help our team catch dental problems early. Regular cleanings help prevent common problems like cavities and dental disease. During a routine checkup, your Noblesville, Indiana, dentist may also perform an intra-oral examination for oral cancer screening. Caught early enough, this life-threatening disease can often be treated. For this reason, it’s important to have routine screenings.
Importance of Intra-Oral Examination in Dentistry
Many dentists include intra-oral exams in their patients’ dental visits to detect early warning signs of oral cancer. Oral cancer can be deadly if not caught soon enough. Routine exams and screenings can alert you to the threat of this disease so you can take steps for treatment.
Before your dental checkup, Dr. Holloway will perform an intra-oral exam as part of your oral cancer screening. This exam involves checking your gums, lips, tongue, and cheeks for lumps, sores, red or white patches, or other irregularities. We’ll also check under your chin and the roof of your mouth for abnormal symptoms.
If we notice unusual symptoms, we’ll monitor your situation closely and schedule additional screenings to see if the symptoms persist. Additional screenings may include:
- Rinsing with a blue dye to clearly distinguish lesions or other irregularities.
- Checking your mouth with a special light that highlights abnormalities.
- Collecting tissue cells to send to a pathologist for a biopsy.
A biopsy will determine if the tissue is cancerous or not so you can take appropriate action. If your family has a history of oral cancer, oral cancer screenings can help diagnose the disease early so you can get the treatment you need to beat the disease.
Call our office for more information
New Patients: (317) 672-0950 | Existing Patients: (317) 773-0278
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Intra Oral Examination Near Me
Intra-oral exams and oral cancer screenings are extra services dentists perform for their patients during routine dental checkups. To learn more about these services and how they can benefit you, contact Dr. Robert Holloway in Noblesville, IN, at (317) 672-0950.