HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – You may think you know what causes oral cancer, but you're dead wrong. It doesn't matter if you smoke, drink or dip.
Just by touching your mouth without washing your hands could be the beginning – a warning everyone needs to hear.
WMBF News Director Tim Day has been smoking for 11 years, and that puts him on the list of people at risk for oral cancer.
If you drink or chew, you could be on it, too, with a 15 percent higher risk.
"I didn't think you could get oral cancer like that, just lung cancer. That's mostly what everybody talks about," Tim said.
Dr. Alina Muntean is talking about it to anyone who sits in her dentist's chair.
"In the first stages of oral cancer, it is very easy to overlook an lesions that are in the mouth," Dr. Muntean said. "When you really see them sometimes they are metastasized, stage three and four. It's already too late."
According to Dr. Muntean, there are 37,000 new cases of oral cancer every year, which has doubled since 1974.
It turns out HPV is behind that increase. The same sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer can also be transmitted to the mouth, and in some cases it's causing oral cancer.
Now, there's a quick and easy way to test for oral cancer – a DNA test that recently became available in dentists' offices.
Tim volunteered to take the test, which gives results in about two weeks.
While the test is new, now only available through the dentist, Dr. Muntean thinks it will soon be standard procedure.
"I really think this is going to be the same as getting a pap smear," Dr. Muntean said. "It's going to be one of the usual tests that needs to be done – must be done – at least once a year.
Tim's test came back negative, a relief for someone who is only 30. He said he still has the possibility of oral cancer on his mind and that's enough to get him to think about kicking his smoking habit for good.
Now there is a cost associated with the test and runs about $125, but Dr. Muntean believes insurance companies could soon pick up the tab.
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