Early detection saves lives – Mouth Cancer Awareness Day

15 Sep 2015

Wednesday 16th September is National Mouth Cancer Awareness Day. To mark the day, Cork University Dental School and Hospital will be running a ‘Be Mouth Cancer Aware’ Educational event with information on how to improve oral health, reduce the risk of mouth head and neck cancer and highlighting the warning signs of this disease.

Over the past 5 years, the Mouth Head & Neck Cancer Awareness Ireland group (MHNCAI) have run national screening events attended by over 25,000 people resulting in at least 23 cancers and numerous precancerous lesions being detected. This year, MHNCAI are concentrating resources on informational events to raise public and professional awareness of this disease.

This year’s campaign is putting a particular emphasis on people living in rural communities, encouraging them to become aware of the disease, to attend their dentist or doctor if they have any concerns and to have regular dental checkups even if they have no remaining natural teeth. Dr.Eleanor O'Sullivan, Senior Lecturer  Oral Surgery, Cork University Dental School & Hospital, UCC states that “Over 570 people are diagnosed each year in Ireland with Mouth Head and Neck Cancer and 4 people die from this disease each week. These numbers could be greatly reduced by greater awareness of the risk factors and warning signs of this disease. We urge everyone to ask their dentist and doctor about Mouth Head and Neck Cancer and to seek advice if they are worried about any ulcer/lesion.”

This educational event will take place in the main foyer of Cork University Dental School & Hospital from 9am to 4pm on 16^th September.