Almost a thousand people have signed an e-petition calling for mouth cancer sufferers to be exempt from dental charges.
As it stands, people with mouth cancer have no guarantee to receive restorative treatment paid for by the NHS. Restorative surgery means many sufferers face a poor quality of life, and research suggests a large percentage of long-term survivors have to cope with persistent poor oral health, eating problems and even depression.
Mouth cancer campaigners are also concerned that the lack of free examinations for mouth cancer from NHS dentists is hindering improvements in mouth cancer survival rates. Many NHS patients have to pay for the privilege of having a mouth cancer check – a condition which kills more than cervical cancer and testicular cancer combined each year.
Ahead of Mouth Cancer Action Month, organisers the British Dental Health Foundation have received a number of messages from current mouth cancer sufferers lending their support to the e-petition. Mouth cancer sufferer Cindy Worthington, 50 from Guernsey, said: “I feel strongly about it as I know how regular visits to the hygienist and dentist helped me get an early diagnosis and therefore escape with no physical impairment or disfigurement as a consequence of mouth cancer. As a woman it strikes me as bizarre that if I still lived in the UK the NHS would pay for a boob job following breast cancer but not for replacement teeth!”
Ed Curry, another mouth cancer sufferer, told the Foundation: “This e-petition is very relevant as I am half way through private dental treatment which is going to cost £870, a sum which is a lot of money to me. My NHS dentist was unable to offer me anything more than a 70 per cent chance of successful treatment, so I was left with no other option.”
Chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Nigel Carter, said: “It is the Foundation’s belief that the current situation faced by mouth cancer sufferers is highly unfair and completely unacceptable.
“To compound those issues with financial concerns, particularly in such difficult economic times, is one step too far for many mouth cancer sufferers. While all cancer patients require a great deal of care, those on the road to recovery from mouth cancer clearly suffer the after-effects of surgery, both physically and mentally.
“We fully urge as many people as possible to sign the e-petiton to ensure this issue is debated and changed.”
Prof. Simon Rogers from the MaxilloFacial Unit at the University Hospital Aintree lent his backing to the e-petition.
Professor Rogers said: “Dental related concerns are a very high priority for patients following head and neck cancer treatment. The importance patients place on issues related to their mouth in particular eating, appearance, self-esteem, and social interaction applies to all age groups, both male and female, and those who have been diagnosed early as well as those with advanced cancer who required highly invasive surgery and radiotherapy.
“From my experience patients want to see their dentist as part of their follow-up consultations. Many patients are also concerned their cancer will return, and regular check-ups are a crucial part of providing reassurance and helping to maintain dental health. To ask patients to pay for these check-ups after such a life-changing experience seems really unfair given the relatively small numbers and the huge potential problems not having regular dental care can lead to. Without access to a dentist 'free at the point of delivery' it can make their recovery un-necessarily difficult and prolonged.”