Medical and Pharmacology | Human diseases and medical and dental emergencies | Common cancers in the dental patient

Common Cancers in the Dental Patient
Session Overview
Description
This session describes the signs and symptoms that may manifest in patients diagnosed with cancers and looks at the impact of important cancers on the provision of dental care.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Review of the common malignicies effecting patients
• Discuss the pathology of these common cancers
• State the treatment of these cancers
• Provide dental care appropriate to each cancer and its management

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should have knowledge of:

• The basic concepts of treatment of cancers

Dental practitioners by virtue of seeing patients over an extended period of time may encounter diagnosed, and more importantly undiagnosed, patients with cancer.

In the UK nearly 300 000 new cancers are diagnosed each year and just over 1:4 people will die of cancer.

The cancers affecting young and old are different and thus practitioners need to have a wide knowledge base to be able to diagnose if the situation demands further investigation. The earlier the diagnosis the sooner treatment can be provided.