general dentistry
Oral cancer screening: two minutes, every exam.
Every exam here includes an oral cancer screening — cheeks, tongue, floor of mouth, palate, throat, neck lymph nodes — about two minutes, no extra charge, no drama. Caught early, oral cancers are highly treatable; caught late they are not, and the difference is usually just whether anyone was looking.
This page exists so you know it's happening, and so you know which changes deserve a call between visits.
What we look and feel for
Patches of white or red that don't resolve, sores that haven't healed in two weeks, lumps or thickened areas, unexplained numbness, and changes in how dentures fit or how swallowing feels. Most findings turn out benign — bite injuries, canker sores, harmless tissue quirks — and you'll be told plainly which yours is.
When something warrants a specialist's eyes, the referral is arranged that week, not left with you as homework. Watchful waiting, when appropriate, comes with an actual follow-up date.
Risk, honestly stated
Tobacco in any form and heavy alcohol remain the classic drivers, and the combination multiplies. HPV has changed the demographics — throat cancers now appear in younger, non-smoking adults — and sun exposure writes its own history on lips, worth noting in a town of trail hikers and orchard weekends.
Higher risk doesn't change the screening; it changes the attentiveness. Share your history candidly — it's a two-minute conversation that calibrates every exam after.
Questions we hear in the chair
- Do I need to ask for the screening?
- No — it's built into every exam automatically. Ask anyway if you'd like it narrated; plenty of patients prefer knowing what's being checked as it happens.
- I have a sore that isn't healing. How long do I wait?
- Two weeks is the line. A sore, patch, or lump that persists past two weeks earns a look — call and say so, and you'll be seen promptly. Most turn out benign; the visit is how we get to say that with confidence.
- Does the screening hurt or cost extra?
- Neither. It's visual and gentle palpation, folded into the exam you're already having, at no additional charge.
- I quit smoking years ago. Still relevant?
- Risk declines after quitting but doesn't reach zero for years — mention the history once and it stays in your chart, quietly calibrating the screening. And congratulations, genuinely.
Clinical content reviewed by Dr. Marissa DeAngelis, Senior Dentist.
Serving Crozet for 50+ years. At least two full-time doctors in the building, Monday through Friday.