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Is your dental practice screening for oral cancer?

April 23, 2015
April is oral cancer awareness month. Dental practices across the U.S. have united to help the fight against oral cancer by providing free oral cancer screenings to their patients. Find out more information to share with your patients in this infographic from the ADA.

The most effective way of detecting oral cancer at its earliest stages is for the dentist to perform a quick and efficient screening during a patient’s office visit. April is oral cancer awareness month, so if your practice is not screening patients, now is the perfect time to start. In fact, many practices have been offering free oral cancer screenings for the entire month of April.

In light of the recent increase of oral cancer incidences, some major insurance companies are now providing reimbursement to dental practices for these oral cancer screening visits, which help offset your patients’ out-of-pocket cost. For patients who might require a follow-up visit for observation or in office biopsy treatments, insurance companies already have a set standard of reimbursement.

Stay tuned for my article in next month's DAD, “Oral cancer screening coding for reimbursement.”

As a dental assistant or office manager, you can help educate patients about oral cancer by placing this infographic on your office Facebook page, in the waiting room, or in the operatories.

According to the American Dental Association, “Almost 42,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral and throat cancers this year.” These numbers speak volumes and should help your patients become aware of the importance of screening for the disease.

A website is also available from the ADA at mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/o/oral-cancer to help educate patients. Not only is oral cancer screening safe and reliable, it can help save lives.