Oral Cancer from dip/chew

General

Oral Cancer from dip/chew

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Anonymous 07-05-2009, 11:40 PM
according to the national cancer institute the risk of someone getting mouth cancer on average is 0.05%(goes up to the older you get) so even if you increased that risk by 50 times its still a very small risk. The lowest i have heard tobacco raises your chance is 4 times and 50 being the highest. The bottom line is if you use any cancer causing agent for long long time you probably will get cancer. My advise for anyone who chews or smokes is go to the dentist and ask for a oral cancer exam every 3-6 months and quit if you can its hard but not as hard as all these people make it out to be. There are freak stories of people who get it very early like 17 but it is rare. A famous baseball player lost his jaw cuz he chewed for 37 Years! If you chew for 37 years expect some problems. It would be interesting to do a study on people who got oral cancer and how often they got checkups but i think if you go 2-3 times a year for a screening they will catch it before it becomes a problem.

Re: Oral Cancer from dip/chew

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admin 07-06-2009, 7:05 AM
It certainly is true that oral cancer is quite rare even if you smoke.  And there is no harm in getting an oral cancer exam if you are worried about the risk.

However, it is not true that cancer is inevitable for any exposure.  Some things are more likely to give you cancer than others; smoking increases your risk of lung cancer dramatically but it will not guarantee it. 

It is just as misleading to generalize from one unusual oral cancer case as it is to generalize from the 95 year old life long chain smoker with no health problems.