At this point, everyone in the world knows that smoking is incredibly bad for your health. It causes cancer, leads to shorter lifespans, and permanently stains your teeth a nasty shade of nicotine yellow.

Smoking does more than that, though. One of the aspects of smoking that’s often overlooked is the role it plays in causing oral cancer. If you, or a loved one, has a smoking habit and are looking to quit, these facts about smoking and oral cancer might just do the trick.

What types of cancer?
Oral cancer refers to any type of cancerous growth in the mouth. This includes your teeth, gums, and cheeks. A [dr_type] treats oral cancer, though they’ll work in conjunction with your oncologist.

Dr. Michael Long and Dr. Matthew Thurman have seen many different types of oral cancer. Unfortunately, all cases lead to severe and devastating long-term effects.

What does it cause?
Oral cancer isn’t necessarily fatal if treated early. However, it still presents a huge infection risk to the rest of your body. If oral cancer starts in your gums, it can eat away at that tissue, killing your teeth along with it. Then, you’re left with nothing but an infected mouth.

And where will all that infection travel? You’re right – everywhere else in your body.

Prevention
Even if you don’t smoke, you can still get oral cancer. Luckily, every appointment here at the practice of [practice_name] in [city], [state], includes an oral cancer screening. This ensures that you’re not developing any issues.

Of course, the best thing you can do to avoid oral cancer is to avoid smoking tobacco at all. To learn more, or to schedule an appointment, call us today at [phone].