Oral Cancer

After completing the course, you’ll be able to:

1. Describe adults’ knowledge about oral cancer and tabulate it for various population groups.
2. Define oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer.
3. Describe terms such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia and dysplasia.
4. Describe different kinds of malignant oral cavity and oropharyngeal tumors.
5. Discuss various key statistics about oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer.
6. Outline various steps one can take to prevent oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer.
7. Discuss various risk factors for oral and oropharyngeal cancer, particularly tobacco, alcohol, sunlight, irritation, Plummer-Vinson syndrome, mouthwash, HPV infection and gender.
8. Explain the etiology and pathogenesis of oral cancer.
9. Conduct a thorough extraoral, perioral and intraoral soft tissue examination.
10. Understand the importance of encouraging older patients to seek dental care so they can receive timely oral cancer examinations.
11. Evaluate the risk of oral cancer in the older population.
12. Differentiate between the oral mucosa of older patients and that of younger patients.
13. List 4 factors that result in the delay in diagnosis of oral cancer in older patients.
14. List 16 components of an oral cancer examination in the recommended sequence.
15. Discuss the role of dental professionals in controlling the burden of oral and pharyngeal cancer.
16. Explain the process of gene mutations associated with oral and pharyngeal cancers, and discuss the etiology and pathogenesis of these diseases.
17. Describe the importance of national and state public awareness programs in the prevention and reduction of oral cancers in the United States.
18. Enumerate interventions in the dental practice setting to reduce the use of tobacco by patients.
19. Identify 4 barriers to early detection of oral and pharyngeal cancer.