MEDIA ALERT –DID YOU KNOW YOUR DENTIST COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE IN JUST TWO MINUTES?

EMBARGO –00:00 THURSDAY 25TH APRIL2013

INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE:

  • DENTIST AND MOUTH CANCER SCREENING ACCREDITATION SCHEME AMBASSADOR – DR PHILIP LEWIS
  • MOUTH CANCER FOUNDATION PEOPLE’S AMBASSADOR – PAT JONES

To set up an interview andfor more informationplease call Media Ambitions on + 44 (0) 208 940 2222 or email .

“Mouth Cancer can be deadly and early detection is essential. The Mouth Cancer Foundation has devised a ‘Two minutes to save a life’ screening protocol, which is a 10-point checklist that every dentist should be able to include in their routine examinations, whether they’re based at an NHS, private or mixed practice.”

Dr Philip Lewis, Dentist and Mouth Cancer FoundationAmbassador

Dental practices in the UK should be performing thorough mouth cancer checks on their patients. This quick, detailed examination that takes just TWO MINUTESand can save lives, yet very few patients are aware they should receive this at least once a year and it is suspected that some dental practices are still not doing it.

One of the UK’s leading mouth cancer charities, theMouth Cancer Foundationhas responded by launching a new life saving initiative, the Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme to raise awareness amongst both patients and dental practices. The Government, through the General Dental Council (GDC), has increased the priority given to the detection of oral cancer, and it is now a recommended topic in continuing professional development (CPD) for dentists.

The schemewill recognise dental practices that demonstrate a visible commitment to increasing public awareness of mouth cancerscreening to all patients and to establish a documented referral pathway with a local specialist department.

Awareness is integral to achieving early detection of head and neck cancers, thus saving lives. The Mouth Cancer Foundation will accredit dental practices that meet certain criteria and routinely participate in oral cancer screening. Full membership includes access to a dedicated section of the charity website and FREE 1 hour CPD element as well as professional development and training modules suitable for all members of the practice team to ensure regular screening benefits practice patients.

Mouth Cancer Foundation People’s Ambassador, Pat Jones, knows just how important it is that dentists carry out regular mouth cancer screening. Pat lost her daughter, Clare Jones, to tongue cancer at just 23 years old in March 2007. Now she is on a mission to raise as much awareness about this lesser known cancer as she can. Pat says “25% of mouth cancer cases are not associated with any known risk factor, hence the need for vigilance. If you notice a lump in your mouth that wasn't there before or a mouth ulcer which lasts for more than 3 weeks, you should see a dentist or doctor immediately.”

Leading British dentist and Mouth Cancer Foundation Ambassador, Dr Philip Lewis, will present the new Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme to delegates at the BDA Conference and Exhibition at 12:15pm on Saturday 27th April 2013. The charity will be at the exhibition from Thursday 25th April 2013 for three days at stand C1.

Dr Lewis continues…“The Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme offers lots of benefits to practices. As well as saving lives it is a practice builder. It encourages footfall and trust. The scheme is as much about educating the public as it is about screening them.I can think of no activity more important for dental professionals than the early detection of mouth cancer.”

Dr Vinod Joshi, Founder of the Mouth Cancer Foundation is the author of the scheme. He says “the Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme helps dentists to know what they are looking for and how to check and refer patients. This will allow head and neck cancers to be caught earlier. Head and neck cancers are particularly vicious and debilitating when detected late. Patients who survive are a huge drain on medical resources for the rest of their lives, in terms of post operative and the psychological care required. With earlier detection, lives are saved and costs on the NHS will reduce dramatically.”

In future, with routine screening, it is possible that people like Clare, who was a student at Loughborough University when she was first diagnosed in February 2003,will be given a life line. Instead,Clare faced an operation to remove the right side of her tongue, reconstruction with a flap from her right forearm and a neck dissection. By 2007, Clare had secondary bone cancer and bravely went through the treatments offered. It was a difficult time for her and she was very, very scared. She worried about the effects of chemo and fertility but finished her chemotherapy and was looking forward to a better 2007. Unfortunately, the MRI scans showed no change in the size of her cancer, which eventually spread to her brain.

The Mouth Cancer Screening AccreditationScheme aims to improve outcomes for head and neck cancers in accordance with The British Dental Association’s occasional paper for the early detection and prevention of oral cancer and NICE guidelines. It offers a realistic approach for dentists who seek to adopt best practice in oral cavity examination and opportunistic screening. The scheme embraces recent Care Quality Commission, Information Governance and Clinical Governance requirements and satisfies the recommendation by the General Dental Council for continuous professional development for the management of oral cancer for dentists.

The charity has undertaken an in-depth pilot of the annual membership programme which has proved to be hugely popular. The pilot practices have completed all aspects of the scheme and on completion of the relevant criteria they will receive full accreditation when the Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme launches.

The Mouth Cancer Screening AccreditationSchemeis open to any dental practice whose clinicians are registered with the GDC. For more information or to join please contact the Mouth Cancer Foundation via or call +44 (0) 1924 950 950 for more information.

-ENDS-

For general press enquiries, please contact:

Elizabeth Ayto Laverack or Izabela Nair

Media Ambitions - +44 208940 2222

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Mouth Cancer Foundation –

The Mouth Cancer Foundation is a registered charity no. 1109298.

In the UK, nearly 8000 people are diagnosed with Mouth Cancer every year. Cancers can occur in any part of the mouth, tongue, lips, and adjacent areas like the throat, salivary glands, pharynx, larynx, sinus, and other sites in the head and neck area. In its very early stages, these Mouth Cancers can be easy to ignore.

Symptoms include:

1. An ulcer or white or red patch anywhere in the mouth that does not heal within 3 weeks

2. A lump or swelling anywhere in the mouth, jaw or neck that persists for more than 3 weeks

3. A difficulty in swallowing, chewing or moving the jaw or tongue

5. A numbness of the tongue or other area of the mouth

6. A feeling that something is caught in the throat

7. A chronic sore throat or hoarseness that persists more than 6 weeks

8. An unexplained loosening of teeth with no dental cause

More information about Mouth Cancer is available at the Mouth Cancer Foundation web site or by emailing .

The Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme is supported by:

Henry Schein –

Henry Schein, a U.S.-based company, entered the U.K. in 1991 as a dental consumables business, and has evolved over the past two decades to be a full-service distributor of health care products and services to dental, medical, and animal health office-based practitioners. Henry Schein UK, affiliate to Henry Schein, Inc., employs over 1000 employees and is based in Gillingham, Kent.

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC) is the world’s largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners. The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites. A Fortune 500® Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, Henry Schein employs more than 15,000 Team Schein Members and serves approximately 775,000 customers.

The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care. Henry Schein operates through a centralised and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 96,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 110,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 25 countries.

DPAS –

DPAS is a leading provider of practice-branded dental plan administration services to practices and their patients in the UK and Ireland. For more information, call 01747 870910 or visit

ProDentalCPD –

ProDentalCPD is a pioneer and one of the world's largest publishers access of online dental continuing professional development (CPD) articles and videos covering the fields of Dentistry, Dental Nursing, Dental Hygiene and Dental Technology. ProDentalCPD offers high quality verifiable CPD and postgraduate training for the whole dental team.

Dr Philip Lewis -

Dr Philip Lewis qualified at Kings College, London in 1977 and has worked in general practice and as a clinical assistant in the hospital service. He takes a keen interest in postgraduate education, development of the dental team and public awareness of dental issues. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of 2 national dental journals, and maintains active membership of several UK and international dental societies. Philip was voted no. 7 in the 2012 Dentistry Top 50 list of people most influential in the profession. In addition, he is a long-serving member of the British Dental Association and acts as a media spokesman. He has made many television and radio appearances as well as having numerous articles and interviews published in the Dental and Consumer press. For the past 8 years Philip has been closely involved with the early detection of mouth cancer, lecturing regularly and training dental teams and is an Ambassador to the Mouth Cancer Foundation.Philip Lewis continues to publish regular articles on equipment and products, clinical techniques, patient care and reviews of professional textbooks. He lectures both to the profession and the public on a variety of dentally-related topics.

Mouth Cancer Foundation © 2013