Most dentists perform an examination of your mouth during a routine dental visit to screen for oral cancer. Oral cancer screening is an examination performed by a dentist  to look for signs of cancer or precancerous conditions in your mouth.

The main goal of oral cancer screening at your dental check up, is to identify mouth cancer early, when there is a greater chance for a cure. To do this some dentists may use additional tests to aid in identifying areas of abnormal cells in your mouth.

Although medical organizations have disagree on whether healthy people without risk factors for mouth cancer really need oral cancer screening. No single oral exam or oral cancer screening test is proved to reduce the risk of dying of oral cancer. However, you and your dentist may decide that an oral exam or a special test is right for you based on your own risk factors.