Your dentist screens your mouth at every check-up, but a great deal happens between appointments. Knowing how to check your mouth at home takes about two minutes a month, and its purpose is not to diagnose anything. It is simply to learn what your normal looks like, so that anything new stands out.
This is a calm, practical routine rather than a cause for anxiety, and the overwhelming majority of what people find turns out to be harmless.
On this page
- Why bother when the dentist checks anyway?
- What you need
- The routine, step by step
- What you are looking for
- The three-week rule
- What not to worry about
- What professional screening adds
- In summary
Why bother when the dentist checks anyway?
Because six months is a long time. If your check-ups are twice a year, that leaves plenty of weeks in between, and changes that appear shortly after an appointment would otherwise go unnoticed for months.
You also have an advantage no dentist has: you see your mouth regularly enough to notice change. A dentist sees a snapshot; you see the film.
What you need
A mirror, good light, clean hands, and a couple of minutes. A bathroom mirror with the light on is fine, though a hand mirror near a window is easier for the awkward angles. If you wear dentures, take them out first.
The routine, step by step
- Face and neck. Look for any swelling or asymmetry, then run your fingers gently down both sides of your neck and under your jaw, feeling for lumps.
- Lips. Pull your upper lip up and lower lip down, and look at the inside surfaces and the gum above and below your teeth.
- Cheeks. Pull each cheek outwards in turn and look at the inner lining, front to back on both sides.
- Roof of the mouth. Tilt your head back and look at the palate, both the hard front portion and as far back as you can see.
- Tongue, top. Stick your tongue out and look at the upper surface, all the way back.
- Tongue, sides. Move your tongue to each side in turn and inspect the edges. This is important, because the sides of the tongue are a more common site than the top.
- Under the tongue. Lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth and look at the underside and the floor of the mouth beneath it.
- Gums. Finally, look at your gums all round, noting any redness, swelling or recession.
Do it in the same order each time and it becomes quick and automatic.
What you are looking for
Anything new or persistent, specifically:
- An ulcer or sore area that has not healed
- Red or white patches anywhere in the mouth
- A lump or thickened area, in the mouth, on the lip or in the neck
- An area that bleeds easily without an obvious cause
- Persistent numbness in the mouth or lip
- A change in texture, such as a rough or hardened patch
Alongside those, mention any ongoing hoarseness, difficulty swallowing or a feeling that something is caught in your throat, since those are relevant too even though you cannot see them.
The three-week rule
This is the rule worth remembering above all others: anything that has not healed within three weeks should be checked.
Three weeks is long enough that ordinary ulcers and irritations will have resolved, and short enough that anything needing attention is found early. Our post on a mouth ulcer that will not heal covers this in more detail.
Getting something checked is not expecting the worst. It is how you make sure of the best, and it usually takes five minutes.
What not to worry about
Plenty of normal features look alarming if you have never examined your mouth closely before:
- The bumps at the back of your tongue. These are large papillae and are entirely normal.
- Visible veins under the tongue, which are supposed to be there.
- A thin white coating on the tongue, which is the everyday accumulation our post on tongue cleaning describes.
- Small bony lumps on the palate or inside the lower jaw, which are common and harmless.
- An ulcer where you bit your cheek, which should heal within a week or two.
If you are unsure whether something is normal, ask at your next appointment rather than worrying about it for months.
What professional screening adds
Self-checking complements professional screening rather than replacing it. At every check-up here, your soft tissues are examined under good light and your jaw and neck gently felt, which takes moments and happens for every patient regardless of age or habits.
A dentist also has the advantage of knowing what your mouth normally looks like, which is exactly what makes change noticeable. Our page on mouth cancer screening explains what the examination involves, and our page on dental check-ups covers where it fits in the appointment.
Risk factors are worth knowing too: smoking is the leading one, alcohol raises risk and multiplies it alongside smoking, and HPV is increasingly recognised. Our post on what smoking does to teeth and gums covers that ground, and the NHS page on mouth cancer has further detail.
In summary
Check your mouth once a month in good light: lips, cheeks, palate, tongue top, sides and underside, floor of the mouth, gums, then feel your jaw and neck. You are learning your normal, not diagnosing anything. Anything that has not healed within three weeks deserves a look.
If you have noticed something that has been there longer than three weeks, ring us on 01255 422506 rather than waiting for your next appointment. Our post on coming back after years away may help if it has been a while.
This article is general information rather than personal dental advice. Every mouth is different, so please speak to your dentist about your own teeth.
