Oral cancer is a serious health problem, responsible for the death of about one person every hour, every day in the United States. It was once thought that folks over 40 were chiefly at risk for the disease. If present trends continue, however, younger people may soon form the majority of oral cancer patients. So, no matter who you are, it makes sense to recognize the risk factors, and find out what you can do to reduce your chances of getting the disease.

As in many other diseases, genetic factors play a role in determining whether an individual will develop oral cancer. At present, there’s nothing we can do about these inborn traits. But there are several choices we can make that will lessen our risk of oral cancer. Most of these risky behaviors are associated with other types of cancer as well.

Moderate to heavy drinkers, and users of tobacco products of all types, are as much as 9 times more likely to develop the disease than non-users. Chronic exposure to the sun has long been associated with the development of cancers of the lip. And, because the sexually-transmitted Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) can lead to oral cancer, unsafe sexual behavior is a factor that’s fast becoming a primary cause of the disease.

So if you need another reason to quit smoking, stop drinking excessively, wear sunscreen and practice safe sex — consider this your warning. But there’s still more you can do to reduce your risk for oral cancer, and improve your general health as well.

Eating a plant-based, whole food diet doesn’t just reduce your risk of getting oral cancer — it also makes you less likely to develop many other cancers, and various chronic conditions like heart disease. The exact mechanisms by which this happens aren’t completely understood, but its effects have been documented in numerous studies.

Avoiding certain chemicals, like the nitrites often found in preserved foods, can reduce cancer risk. And the antioxidants you get by eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help protect your body from cancer-causing substances.

Finally, don’t ignore regular cancer screenings. The early signs of oral cancer are difficult for many people to distinguish from common mouth sores — but we are trained to identify possible problem areas, and can schedule further tests if needed. You can get an oral cancer screening (a fast and painless procedure) at your regular dental checkup. And you always get your checkups on time — don’t you?

f you were a well-known actor, how far would you go to get inside the character you’re playing in a movie? Plenty of stars have gained or lost weight to fit the role; some have tried to relate to their character by giving up creature comforts, going through boot camp, even trying out another occupation for a time. But when Jamie Foxx played a homeless musician in the 2009 film The Soloist, he went even further: He had part of his front tooth chipped out!

“My teeth are just so big and white — a homeless person would never have them,” he told an interviewer. “I just wanted to come up with something to make the part unique. I had one [tooth] chipped out with a chisel.”

Now, even if you’re trying to be a successful actor, we’re not suggesting you have your teeth chipped intentionally. However, if you have a tooth that has been chipped accidentally, we want you to know that we can repair it beautifully. One way to do that is with cosmetic bonding.

Bonding uses tooth-colored materials called “composite resins” (because they contain a mixture of plastic and glass) to replace missing tooth structure. The composite actually bonds, or becomes one, with the rest of the tooth.

Composite resins come in a variety of lifelike tooth shades, making it virtually impossible to distinguish the bonded tooth from its neighbors. Though bonding will not last as long as a dental veneer, it also does not require the involvement of a dental laboratory and, most often, can be done with minor reshaping of the tooth.

Cosmetic Bonding for Chipped Teeth
A chipped tooth can usually be bonded in a single visit to the dental office. First, the surface of the tooth may be beveled slightly with a drill, and then it is cleaned. Next, it is “etched” with an acidic gel that opens up tiny pores. After the etching gel is rinsed off, the liquid composite resin in a well-matched shade is painted on in a thin layer, filling these tiny pores to create a strong bond. A special curing light is used to harden this bonding material. Once the first layer is cured, another layer is painted on and cured. Layers can continue to be built up until the restoration has the necessary thickness. The bonding material is then shaped and polished. The whole procedure takes only about 30 minutes!

From its development and first use over a century ago, radiography — the use of x-rays to view internal images in the body — has revolutionized how dentists diagnose and treat patients. Now, a new technology known as Cone Beam Computing Tomography (CBCT) promises to take us “light years” beyond even today’s most modern conventional x-ray devices.

X-rays expose images on special film after passing through a mass, like the human body. Because they pass more easily through soft tissues than through hard structures like teeth or bone, the softer tissues will appear darker. This property can reveal even subtle distinctions in density such as might be the case with a fracture or a tooth cavity.

Standard radiography, though, has its limitations. It takes extensive training and experience for a dentist to interpret exactly what they’re seeing in an x-ray. Their two-dimensionality (like a photograph) limits the amount of information we can derive from the physical structures being examined. And due to radiation exposure to patients, we must limit the amount of their use for each individual patient.

CBCT improves on those limitations. The device projects a cone-shaped beam of x-rays as it rotates around a patient’s head. During this rotation it records hundreds of images that a computer can later digitally format in a variety of ways. The result: instead of a two-dimensional flat view, we can now three-dimensionally view the mouth from a variety of different angles and in greater detail. Best of all, one scan can provide enough imagery data to view in detail the entire skull or a jaw, or something as minute as a single root canal within a tooth.

CBCT is already improving the accuracy of diagnostics and treatment in a variety of dental specialties, including orthodontics, implantation and oral surgery. And properly set, the radiation exposure is no more or less than a full-mouth series of x-rays, and up to ten times less than CT scanning.

Advances like CBCT increase the range and accuracy of diagnostics and improve treatment for a variety of conditions. As they grow in use, the result will be more successful dental outcomes for you and your family.