image via drnealblog.blogspot.com
Need another reason to encourage patients or loved ones to stop smoking?
According to the Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization), oral cancer rates are on the rise. As compared with 2008, oral cancer rates will increase 68% by 2030, with potentially over 790,000 people being diagnosed. Morality rates predict 460,000 deaths due to oral cancer by 2030.
Points to drive home to smokers: refraining from risk factors and modifying risky behavior can result in 30% of cancers prevented. Dr. Carter of the International Dental Health Foundation (IDHF) points out that “Although cancer is not wholly preventable, mouth cancer is very closely related to lifestyle choices. Making more people aware of the risks and symptoms for mouth cancer will undoubtedly save lives.”
Ahem New Year’s Resolutions…
Have any smoking cessation tactics worked for your patients? Leave us a comment below!
Read the full Dr. Bicuspid story here
~Kallie Law, Alabama ’12, contributing editor
