Oral health is not trivial

This is the 4558th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

A month ago, I treated an aunt in her 60s. She said that she had "oral lichen planus" more than 10 years ago, and she didn't feel any discomfort, so she didn't come to the hospital for a follow-up visit. In the past two months, she felt pain on the right side of her tongue, especially when swallowing. The pain was particularly severe and affected her sleep. That's why she came to the hospital for treatment to relieve the pain. After clinical examination, it was "tongue cancer." This result is undoubtedly heartbreaking, but on the other hand, in fact, this aunt and her family knew that she had "lichen planus" 10 years ago, but they didn't pay attention to it, and they never went to the hospital for a follow-up visit, so that now there are such serious consequences. This reflects that many patients do not have the habit of regular follow-up visits, which often causes minor lesions to become major diseases.

Malignant transformation of lichen planus

Everyone gets scared when they hear the word "cancer", including me. First of all, we need to know that cancer does not develop in one day. We can see the oral mucosa with our naked eyes, unlike the internal organs, which require many instruments to be examined. So to some extent, as long as you go to the dentistry department for regular health checks, oral cancer will hardly find you.

Today we will first learn about the oral mucosa. Normal oral mucosa has six characteristics: smooth, soft, continuous, moist, pink and elastic. If one day you find that your oral mucosa cannot be described by any of these characteristics, you are very likely to have an oral mucosal disease. Oral mucosal diseases may seem like minor illnesses, but sometimes they affect our quality of life and may even cause cancer. So, let's learn what conditions can cause oral mucosal cancer:

1. Bad habits such as smoking, drinking, chewing betel nut, etc.

As we all know, smoking can cause lung cancer; drinking can cause liver cancer, etc. But did you know that these bad habits can also cause oral cancer? When smoking, you hold the cigarette in your mouth. The harmful substances in the smoke first irritate the oral mucosa. If you drink alcohol, it is more likely to cause cell cancer. Many people may not know that chewing betel nut can cause "oral submucosal fibrosis" in the oral mucosa. In simple terms, it is "restricted mouth opening" and there is a possibility of malignant transformation. So if there are patients with these habits, the first thing I write in the treatment section is: quit smoking, quit drinking, and quit betel nut.

Lip cancer

2. Long-term chronic irritation in the oral cavity

If the "residual roots" and "residual crowns" caused by tooth decay and other reasons are not treated in time, long-term "cutting" of the tongue or traumatic ulcers on the cheek mucosa may become malignant in the long run. Therefore, when such patients come, I will repeatedly remind them to extract or grind down their teeth as soon as possible, and not to continue to damage the oral mucosa, otherwise the consequences will be very serious.

Cheek traumatic ulcer caused by residual root and crown

3. Treat oral mucosal diseases in a standardized manner as early as possible

If you are diagnosed with an oral mucosal disease, don't be afraid, get standardized treatment early and have regular follow-up visits. The chances of general diseases turning into cancer are still very low, and following the doctor's advice will keep you away from them.

Oral health leads to overall health. Pay attention to the health of oral mucosa and enjoy a healthy life.

Author: Jiang Qian, Department of Stomatology, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University