MEDIA ALERT – DENTAL PRACTICES CAN NOW JOIN THE MOUTH CANCER SCREENING ACCREDITATION SCHEME FOR JUST £20.00 PER MONTH!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY 29th MAY 2013

For more information please call Media Ambitions on + 44 (0) 208 940 2222 or email .

In a bid to encourage as many dental practices as possible to sign up to the newly launched Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme the Mouth Cancer Foundation has introduced a £20.00 per month direct debit option to prospective members. There is also the choice of an annual upfront payment of £200.00[i].

Dental Practices that join the Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme are accredited by the Mouth Cancer Foundation when they demonstrate a visible commitment to increasing public awareness of mouth cancer screening to all patients and establish a documented referral pathway with a local specialist department. Dentists must meet certain criteria and routinely participate in oral cancer screening. There is a quick, detailed examination that takes just TWO MINUTES and can save lives.

For the membership fee the dental teams will learn how to perform this exam as well as having access to a dedicated section of the charity website and FREE 1 hour CPD element. There are also professional development and training modules suitable for all members of the practice team. The membership fee also includes a certificate and plaque for the practice to display.

Dental practices joining the scheme are required to pay a fee to cover the charity’s costs for administering the scheme. The Direct Debit facility is being managed by DPAS.

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. For as little as £20.00 per month all dental practices can have access to the benefits of membership of this worthwhile scheme to save our patients lives.”

The Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme is 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 - +44 208 940 2222

www.mediaambitions.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Mouth Cancer Foundation – www.mouthcancerfoundation.org

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

The Membership fee in year one is either a £200.00 upfront annual payment or £20.00 monthly direct debit. The aBottom of Form

nnual renewal Fee is either a £150.00 upfront payment or £15.00 per month if paying by direct debit. A 20% discount is applied for each additional practice of a corporate group that joins the scheme. For full details of our corporate rates please contact us.

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 www.mouthcancerfoundation.org or by emailing .

The Mouth Cancer Screening Accreditation Scheme is supported by:

DPAS – www.dpas.co.uk

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 www.dpas.co.uk

Mouth Cancer Foundation © 2013

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