He wasn't worried by the spot on his tongue. His dental hygienist thought it looked like cancer
CBC
A routine, semi-annual cleaning appointment at the dentist led to a cancer diagnosis for a grateful Edmonton man.
In April 2022, Jonathan Teghtmeyer, a communications co-ordinator with Alberta Teachers' Association, drove to Petrolia Dental in south Edmonton for his semi-annual cleaning and checkup.
During his appointment, dental hygienist Vaishali Brotschi noticed a spot on Teghtmeyer's tongue. When she asked for more information, he told her he thought it was a canker sore.
He wasn't especially worried. The soreness wasn't persistent and he remained largely unaffected by it.
"Once every few weeks, I would feel some sort of sensitivity there; that was about it," Teghtmeyer told CBC's Edmonton AM.
Dental hygienists are trained to screen for oral cancer. Brotschi noticed the lesion was discoloured — a little red, a little white, with irregular borders: all red flags, warning signs for cancer.
She recommended Teghtmeyer see a doctor. In May 2022, he had a biopsy.
The next month, an oral pathologist confirmed a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that can form inside the mouth, throat, and lungs.
The tongue is divided into the oral tongue — the part you stick out — and the base. Cancer can develop in either part.
One of the symptoms of oral cancer is a red or white patch on the tongue that doesn't go away.
"I had been told by the pathologist this was very treatable," said Teghtmeyer. "They could cut it out, they would sew it back up, I'd go on with my life."
He said the diagnosis didn't concern him, and downplaying it made it easier to tell his wife and two kids.
"For whatever reason I maintained some composure and it worked really well," he said, adding the children were involved in the conversation all the time.
At the end of summer, Teghtmeyer underwent an intensive, 14-hour surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital.
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