BOSTON, MA – We interrupt the comedic spin on MTM to bring you this important Public Service Announcement not from the Ad Council. Get to a dentist every six months and set a good example for your kids or nephews or nieces – the appointment concerns a lot more than just the Chicklets in your mouth or the ones we see NHL players spitting out during these playoffs if they aren’t breaking their legs trying to win. Doctors serve the same purpose but vanity probably has us seeing our dentists more often than rushing to Dr. Nick Rivera’s office. Even if your “pearly whites” need only a cleaning, a good dental professional will conduct an oral cancer screening. Head and neck cancer includes oral cancer in its statistics as these occurrence numbers are rising rapidly with the category becomes much more prevalent than the 1% twenty-five years ago.
Michael Douglas is nowhere near an athlete unless you count hair-pie eating contests as a sport and is just one more famous person contracting this crap in and around the mouth. Just this past week, ex-Houston Gamblers QB great (ok, Buffalo Bills, too) Jim Kelly underwent reconstructive surgery to remove what is called squamous cell carcinoma (scc) and comprises almost all of head and neck tumors. 
George Karl who just won NBA Coach of the Year honors and was so good the Denver Nuggets chose to fire rather than reward him with a contract extension, is on the same dubious cancer list as Bronx-born former NBA front office honcho Donnie Walsh. Both men attended and were assistant coaches at their alma mater, the University of North Carolina located on “tobacco road.”
Former MLB Brad Marchand-type, Brett Butler, brought awareness with his own fight with (scc) in the 1990’s as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and spearheaded an anti-chaw campaign and caught the conscience of fellow Big League chewers. I’m not sure the product still exists, but does anybody see the problem of packaging chewing gum in a tobacco style pouch? Think about, folks. Incidence of the disease is reaching a younger age demographic where the medical community once deemed these cancers to be a result of decades abusing the synergistic tobacco AND alcohol there are new factors as a result of research. I have my own theories relating to tobacco additives, environmental factors, and chemicals but I refuse to bore you if not succeeding there already.
Oral Cancer killed two of the most legendary sports figures of the 20th century. Not even Jim Thorpe could escape the ravaging effects of the disease. The House That Ruth Built was dubbed on a day where the Yankees paid tribute to a dying Bambino for all his playing feats. When addressing the stadium crowd, he stated “my voice sounds bad and it feels just as bad”. Modern medicine has come a long way as these immortals could have benefitted in the way you can. Listen to my voice, “Go to the dentist every six months!”
Good luck, Grote2DMax! Go B’s!
West Coast Craig, tomorrow.
