November is Mouth Cancer Action Month. Dentist Dr Soumaya Zinet explains why mouth cancer is a working-age issue, and the simple steps employers can take to help colleagues spot it early.
A cancer most people never think about
When organisations build a health and wellbeing strategy, oral health rarely makes the list. Mental health, musculoskeletal problems and the big-name cancers usually do. Yet as a dentist, I see every week how closely the mouth is tied to the rest of the body, and one condition worries me more than any other.
Mouth cancer is one of the fastest-rising cancers in the UK. It is very treatable when caught early. The problem is that most people don’t know what to look for, and many working adults haven’t seen a dentist in years.
The numbers behind the problem
The Oral Health Foundation’s most recent UK report recorded 10,825 new cases in a year, up 38% in a decade and 133% in 20 years. The same report estimated 3,637 deaths, around 10 people every day. More recent NHS England data shows cases in England alone reaching 9,293 a year, another record.
Late diagnosis is the real concern. More than half of cases are found at stage III or IV, when treatment is more complex and survival is lower. Only around one in five UK adults can name the main signs and symptoms.
Not just an older smoker’s disease
The stereotype of mouth cancer is a heavy smoker in retirement. Smoking and alcohol remain the biggest risk factors, but the picture has changed.
Most cases are diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 74, when many people are still very much in work. The human papillomavirus (HPV) now causes a large share of cancers at the back of the mouth and in the tonsils, including in people who have never smoked. Mouth cancer is also more common in men, a group that is often slower to seek medical help.
In other words, some of the people most at risk are sitting in your meetings, running your teams and putting off appointments because they’re busy.
The check-up that takes less than a minute
At every routine dental visit, I examine the tongue, cheeks, gums, lips, the roof and floor of the mouth, and the neck. It takes less than a minute and most patients don’t realise it’s happening. If something looks unusual, we can refer urgently to a specialist.
That check only works if people turn up. Busy working adults are often the first to let dental appointments slide, especially when nothing hurts. Mouth cancer is frequently painless in its early stages, so “it doesn’t hurt” is never a reason to wait.
The signs to act on are:
- a mouth ulcer that hasn’t healed within three weeks
- a red or white patch inside the mouth
- a lump or thickening in the mouth, lip or neck
- a persistent sore throat, hoarseness or difficulty swallowing
- unexplained numbness in the lip or tongue, or a tooth that suddenly loosens
Any of these lasting more than three weeks should be checked by a dentist or GP.
Five things employers can do this November
- Make time for check-ups. Let colleagues attend dental appointments without using annual leave, or make it easy to work flexibly around them. A culture that treats a check-up as legitimate time away removes one of the biggest barriers.
- Look at your benefits. If you offer health cash plans or dental cover, remind people it exists. Many employees never use benefits they don’t know about.
- Share the signs. Use Mouth Cancer Action Month for an all-staff message, intranet post or lunchtime talk. The three-week rule is simple enough to remember and could genuinely save a life.
- Support people to quit. Stop smoking support, including for chewing tobacco and paan, is one of the most effective things you can offer. NHS stop smoking services are free.
- Plan for colleagues going through treatment. Mouth cancer treatment can affect speech, eating and appearance, and recovery can be long. Phased returns, adjustments to customer-facing or speaking roles and a manager who checks in make a real difference.
A small change with a big impact
Mouth cancer doesn’t need an expensive programme to tackle. It needs people to know the signs, feel able to act on them and keep seeing their dentist. Employers are in a unique position to make all three easier. This Mouth Cancer Action Month, adding oral health to your wellbeing strategy could be one of the simplest and most valuable changes you make.
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