Screenings will be in the Healthy Horizons section of the South Wing exhibit hall, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Aug. 20, 21, 23, 24, 26 and 27.
Between 1992 and 2010, the School of Dentistry screened 2,634 people at the fair. The screenings detected an abnormality in about 9 percent of the people screened and precancerous conditions in about 1.7 percent of them.
Kentucky has a higher incidence of oral cancer than the national average, according to Lee Mayer, associate professor and director of community dental health at UofL.
Mayer recommends an oral cancer screening at least annually as oral cancers represent 3 percent of all undiagnosed malignancies in the United States.
Oral cancer risk factors include smoking, smokeless tobacco use and regular alcohol use, he said.
According to the American Cancer Society, symptoms of oral cancer can include a sore in the mouth that bleeds easily and does not heal; a lump or thickening in the cheek; a white or red patch on the soft tissues of the mouth; a sore throat or feeling that something is caught in the throat; difficulties chewing, swallowing or moving the jaw.
The School of Dentistry is partnering with the Kentucky Cancer Program and Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield to provide the free screenings.
