The Dental Department at Alfardan Medical with Northwestern Medicine (AMNM) is taking part in raising awareness about oral cancer in the region. AMNM’s Dr Sandra Hamdy El-Khatib, BDS, NBDE, DCLINDENT, MEndo, RCSEd, brings her expertise in general dentistry and specialisation in Endodontics with certifications of the highest qualifications in dentistry from the USA, UK and Egypt to the heart of Doha as part of the centre’s mission to deliver the most advanced patient-centric care with service excellence. With this, AMNM has acquired some of the most advanced modern equipment and practices the premier standards of infection control, highest dental guidelines in diagnosis and treatments, which includes oral cancer screenings in consultations and checkups visits. This will support enhancing awareness of oral cancer and enabling oral health culture in the region.
April is Oral Cancer Awareness month which is a time for dental professionals to bring attention to this worldwide public health dilemma and the role that they play. Oral cancer is more common than some might think.
According to the World Health Organisation data, more than 600,000 new cases are reported and over 300,000 deaths of oral cancer annually. It has a higher mortality rate than thyroid, breast, and testicular cancer. This is mainly because of late detection (Oral Cancer Foundation and American Cancer Society); if we can raise awareness and get more people get screened, we may be able to reduce the detrimental impact of the disease. That is why it is important to bring some attention to it and to its month of awareness, which is April. The mouth cancers fall into the head and neck cancer category, they comprise about 85% of that category.
According to the American Cancer Society, when oral cancer discovered early, the survival rate over 5 years increases to 90%. But when it is discovered late, the survival rate over 5 years is decreased to 40%-66%. Factors that increase your chance of developing oral cancer are smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, being male, and old age. However, some10% of patients without these risk factors seem to have a genetic predisposition and will still develop oral cancer.
Dental professionals play a key role in the detection of oral cancer. Screening for oral cancer is a routine element of the dental checkup and consultation visits at AMNM. This increases the importance of the dental visit as an essential part of your health checkup because early detection of oral cancer can be life-saving.
Our AMNM dentists are well-trained with the knowledge to screen effectively for oral cancer. Performing regular screening can help bring peace of mind and keep people safe. Prevention is better than treatment, and public education is needed in Qatar and the GCC region. Together we can conquer cancer and save lives. AMNM and the role of its professionals is to spread the oral cancer awareness in the region.
Related Story
