What are the Causes of Jaw Bone Cancer?

Jaw bone cancer is a kind of cancer classified as osteosarcoma. This is characterised by the growth of cancer cells in this region of the body. The risk of developing this form of cancer is more in people who smoke or chew tobacco. As with any other cancer, early treatment is critical in preventing the condition to aggravate beyond cure. So, get medical help as soon as you notice some symptoms such as pain and swelling in the jaw for apparently no reason.

Causes of Jaw Bone Cancer

• Dental Causes – Cavities, broken teeth, abscesses and infection can lead to development of jaw cancer. This is felt as pain in the lower jaw.
• Tobacco and alcohol – If you are an addict of any of the two, it aggravates the risk much higher. The chemicals and acids present in these addictives eats into body cells and leads to the development of cancer. Several other medical conditions also result from such a substance abuse.
• Age and unhealthy diet – With advancing age, the ability of your body to fight diseases, i.e. the immune system takes a beating. You are not able to ward off diseases such as cancer. This is aggravated by a lifestyle of not having adequate nutrients. This allows the cancerous cells to invade the body and cause jaw bone cancer.
• Other diseases – Some medical conditions can cause jaw bone cancer. Leukoplakia is one such condition whose symptom is formation of whitish patches inside the mouth or throat. Another one is Erythroplakia, which causes red and raised patches in the mouth.
• HPV – Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is known to cause jaw bone cancer. It is a sexually transmitted virus and is one of the main reasons behind jaw bone cancer.

Oral cancer is on the rise all over the world. Lifestyle choices are the main culprit behind it. One of the most common of the oral cancers is the jaw bone cancer. It leads to formation of painful lumps on the tissues of the jaw.

You also have some treatment options available such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Those who have not got the disease should seriously consider making the right choices right away, if they want to avoid any risk of developing jaw bone cancer. 

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