Yes. Oral cancer often has no symptoms in the earliest stages. By the time something hurts or looks obviously wrong, the condition is harder to treat. A two minute check at every cleaning is the simplest way to catch changes when they are still small and manageable.

Risk goes up with age, tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, sun exposure on the lips, and HPV infection. That said, oral cancer also shows up in patients with none of those risk factors, which is why we screen every adult at every cleaning visit, not just the ones with obvious risk.

No. The exam is just a careful look and gentle touch of the tissues in and around your mouth and neck. There are no needles, no scans, and no discomfort. Most patients do not even realize the screening has happened until we tell them everything looked good.

If we see something that looks unusual, we explain it clearly, take a photo, and decide together on next steps. That might mean a follow up in two weeks to see if the spot changes, or a referral to an oral surgeon or specialist for a biopsy. We do not guess and we do not panic.

Once a year at minimum for most adults, twice a year for patients with higher risk factors. We include a screening at every regular cleaning visit by default, so most patients are covered without doing anything extra. Call (512) 540-4644 if you want to schedule one on its own.