OVERVIEW

Oral Cancer is organized by Homestead Schools, Inc.

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