• 11/16/2004
  • Dr. Gifford-Jones
  • CalgarySun.com

“Stick out your tongue,” my dentist invariably requests during my regular dental checkup. I know that shortly he’ll examine my teeth. But for the moment he’s looking for any sign of cancer of the tongue.
Cancer of the tongue is one of the more common types of mouth cancer. It’s curable in about 80% of cases when diagnosed early.

Most tongue cancers are treated by surgery, which may include post-operative radiation and/or chemotherapy. Usually, however, treatment of advanced cancers of the tongue necessitate a radical surgical resection requiring some reconstruction of the tongue, a demanding eight-hour operation. And that’s why I’m writing this particular column.

I recently attended a meeting of head and neck surgeons to hear about new treatments for oral cancers.

Several of Canada’s most distinguished Professors of Head and Neck Surgery made this remark to me, ‘I used to get more applications for training in head and neck surgery than I could accept. Now I can’t find enough doctors to fill the training program. It won’t be too long before there are not enough specialists to treat oral cancers.’ ”

I asked the reason why there should be such a dramatic shift.

He replied, “Young doctors today are more practical about the economics of medicine. So they are lining up to go into cosmetic surgery. They realize that in a couple of hours they can charge $20,000 for a face-lift operation. Or thousands doing nose jobs or quick nip and tucks on the tummy or breast. Why should they spend 8 to 12 strenuous hours treating oral cancer for about $1,800?”

So it’s a no-brainer to realize what the future holds for patients suffering from tongue and oral cancers. As current head and neck surgeons retire, who is going to do the surgery? It will take years to train others if we can find them.

It’s important for readers not to confuse plastic surgeons with cosmetic surgeons. Plastic surgeons, the ones on the public payroll, spend hours caring for babies born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. These surgeons are not living the high life.

In view of the upcoming shortage of head and neck surgeons it’s even more important to try to prevent oral malignancies. Make sure you arrange for at least an annual, or better still, a semi-annual dental examination, particularly if you smoke.