Prevention of mouth cancer includes:

• Stop smoking.
• Avoid exposure to secondary smoke.
• Avoid alcohol, or drink alcohol in moderation:
• For men: no more than 2 alcoholic beverages per day
• For women: no more than 1 alcoholic beverage per day
• Avoid chewing tobacco.
• Maintain good oral hygiene:
• Brush your teeth after meals and at bedtime.
• Floss your teeth every day.
• Gargle with dilute saltwater three times per day.
• See your dentist every 6 months.

Oral Cancer Screening
One of the big problems with detecting mouth cancer is that the lesions are often difficult to see in normal lighting. Zila pharmaceuticals is marketing a new product called ViziLite Plus (R). It is a fast, painless, and simple test that your dentist can perform in the office. All you do is rinse with a cleansing solution and then your dentist examines your mouth using a special light. The light marks suspicious lesions with a blue color. If a lesion is detected, a biopsy can be performed to look for cancer cells. The ViziLite Plus (R) screening examination is performed once a year.