SEEING ORAL CANCER

Recently I had a patient come in for routine hygiene treatment complaining of some "scratchy" feelings down on the side of her throat that had been noticeable for 3-4 weeks. I told her that she needed to see her M.D.  and that I would look today as well. When I opened her mouth I saw a white ball about the size of a quarter where her tonsil should be. It was not a tonsil...it was white and full of veins and arteries. She was shown the spot and said that her appointment was in about a month with her M.D. I took a picture with our mouth camera, printed it out and told her to run it by her MD's office right then. She did and they saw her the next day thankfully.  The white ball was  non-Hodgkins lymphoma requiring removal and chemo treatment.  Bottom line: if something seems out of the norm in your mouth for longer than 2 weeks, GET SOMEONE TO LOOK AT IT.. YOU are the best to know when something isn't right.. Please take care of yourself.