HEALTH charities are urging dentists and GPs to carry out more mouth checks to stem the rise in oral cancer – the condition suffered by actor Michael Douglas, broadcaster Danny Baker and former England football captain Bryan Robson.

Next week sees the start of November’s Mouth Cancer Action Month, launched by the British Dental Health Foundation to raise awareness of a disease that kills more people than cervical and testicular cancer combined.

Between 1997 and 2008, the number of cases of mouth cancer rose by 46 per cent, and at current rates, UK cases are set to double within a generation.

The charity estimates that around 60,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with the disease in the next 10 years, and that without early detection and treatment, about 30,000 will die.

With early detection, the five-year survival rate would rise to as high as 90 per cent.

Yet according to a recent Which? investigation, involving visits to 10 private and 10 NHS dental practices, as many as three-quarters of dentists may be failing to check the soft tissue inside the mouth for signs that cancer may be developing.

Ian Catley, chief executive of Poole-based head and neck cancer support charity About Face, said: “As oral cancers are the sixth most common malignancy in the UK, this is a worrying sign.

“These extra minutes or so can be crucial in saving lives.

“If dentists or GPs think there is something worth investigating, they can get a patient seen at a head and neck clinic at a local hospital, usually within a 14-day period.”

Mr Catley added “As a patient once put it to us at our weekly drop-in: ‘If my dentist hadn’t spotted a mark in my mouth I wouldn’t be here today.’”

But the charity’s annual surveys of the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch area indicate that between 12 and 16 per cent of people do not have access to, or choose not to go to the dentist.

Yet there are places available on local NHS lists, and as Mr Catley points out: “People who don’t have any of their own teeth still need their mouths examined to see if there are early signs of oral cancer.”

About Face chairman Dr Anthony Pigott is keen to persuade health professionals to see such examinations as a mouth check, not a tooth inspection.

He would like to see a national screening programme introduced in the form of regular free mouth inspections, possibly in local dental surgeries.

Open days offering such checks in the Irish Republic last year were attended by more than 3,000 people in Dublin and Cork.

In the capital, 29 suspicious lesions needing biopsy were found as well as three early cancers and two established cancers.

Another person who could not wait any longer in the queue later attended his GP surgery instead and was referred to hospital, where a cancer was discovered.

At Cork, 49 lesions and one cancer were found.

British Dental Health Foundation chief executive Dr Nigel Carter said: “Raising awareness during Mouth Cancer Action Month, combined with free screenings, could help the early diagnosis of hundreds of mouth cancers across the UK and save many lives.

“We hope as many health professionals as possible will support this year’s campaign.”

About Face offers one-to-one support to people affected by head and neck cancers and their families or carers.

It is based at 111 Longfleet Road, Poole, tel 01202 677340 or contact@about-face.info.

The charity will have a stand at the Sovereign Centre in Boscombe from Monday 14 to Saturday 19 November (10am to 4pm) with a team of volunteers to help raise awareness of mouth cancer.

Volunteers, including Bournemouth University students, will be handing out leaflets and toothpaste.

• To find an NHS dentist ring 0845 46 47.