The sun and skin cancer. What you need to know about diagnosis and treatment.

Skin cancer is the most common malignancy in man, with an incidence of 1,000,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States in 1999. There are three recognized types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous carcinoma, and melanoma. These cancers frequently occur on the sun-exposed areas (face, ears, scalp, etc.) of the head and neck. These areas are amenable to examination by general dentists during routine oral examinations. Early diagnosis of skin cancers and subsequent treatment result in high cure rates. Dentists are in a unique position to help in the diagnosis of skin cancer in their patients due to their frequent contact with patients compared to other health care practitioners.