We have all heard the sad news about our very own John Farnham being diagnosed with oral cancer and has a high chance we may not hear the Voice for a while. This has brought many to the attention of oral cancer.

Oral cancer is one of those cancers where the prognosis of treatment is very low if its detected too late. This can involve one losing possibly the entire lower jaw. It happens more common in males over 65 and also people with history of smoking and alcohol use. Despite all that, it is probably one of the least publicised cancers until recently with John Farnham.

Similar to many cancers, there is usually no symptoms to the patient until it is too late. Its most common growth area is on the underside of the lateral side of the tongue. This is such a hidden area where most people do not look at daily even when brushing their teeth. Therefore, when going for your dental checkups at your dentist, it is important that the dentist takes their time and to check these high risks oral cancer areas as well as taking radiographs to see if anything sinister is running underneath. At our Grovedale dental practice in Geelong, all our experienced dentists checks on this routinely for all our patient checkups. This we hope, would ensure we pick up on any early signs of oral cancer and give the patient the best chance of survival.