Hello my friends! I hope all of you enjoy your day off tomorrow! Were suffering through winter here at 75 degrees... Every time patients come in to our office for a cleaning and exam, I examine the teeth, of course, but also do an oral cancer screening. This involves stretching out the cheeks to check the condition of all the soft tissues. I ask patients to say ahhh because that lifts the soft palate and allows a perfect view of the back of the throat and tonsils. It helps that I wear magnifiers and a super strong headlight! I ask them to stick out their tongue. First I check to see that they can stick it straight out. If it deviates to the side, this could be a warning sign of a stroke. This happened recently in our office. The deviation was so profound that I encouraged her to go straight to the emergency room, where they admitted her and did indeed find arterial disease and signs of a recent stroke. I am so grateful when my job can help save a life! I then pull the tongue out with a square of cotton, and look at the sides and underneath. Lastly, I feel under the jawbone for swollen glands and down the neck for signs of an irregularly shaped thyroid gland. When I see something that looks abnormal, I generally refer out to the appropriate physician, either an oral surgeon or an ENT. If its a mucosal abnormality, I can do a brush biopsy painlessly, right in my office. Recently someone came in with a swollen parotid gland. He had unusual symptoms for tooth pain but his ENT told him it was a tooth. It didnt add up; I encouraged him to get a second opinion, and when he did, he sadly discovered that he had a malignant tumor in his neck which was pushing his parotid gland out. Its not a bad idea to take a look in your own mouth in the mirror from time to time, under a bright light. Try pulling your tongue and cheeks out so you can see what its supposed to look like. Usually if both sides look the same, youre good. If you have white or red patches or anything that seems strange to you, let me have a look. Hopefully, Ill just tell you it looks fine! For fun, Ill post some photos of a hike we did yesterday. I hope youre also able to get out in this severe weather! :)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 05:20:32 +0000
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