A ROUTINE trip to the dentist could save your life according to one lucky Blackpool man who did just that -- and beat oral cancer.

Peter Gentil, 63, had half his face rebuilt after eight-and-a-half hours of surgery at the Royal Preston Hospital to remove cancerous tissue from his jawbone, inside cheek and the base of his tongue.

A visit to his local dentist for toothache revealed the deadly disease, as Peter told us: "I just had toothache and made an appointment six weeks ago.

"I didn't feel unwell or in excessive pain. I am fairly fit and I gave up smoking ten years ago, so I was shocked and stunned when my dentist sent me to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for further investigations.

"The dentistry department there gave me a biopsy and then the consultant, Mr Shakeel Akhtar, got on the case and it was all go."

Skin was grafted from his forearm to complete the reconstruction and Peter is delighted with the outcome.

And he's back at work running the Alpine Centre ski shop on Church Street just four and half weeks after the innovative surgery was carried out by Victoria Hospital's consultant Maxillo facial surgeon, Mr Akhtar.

"I'm very grateful to Mr Akhtar," added Peter. "This is a fantastic step forward and I'm extremely pleased with the attention I received. My speech isn't quite perfect yet, but it will improve.

"I'm so lucky that the dentist knew what to look for, and it just shows that regular check-ups can save your life. My wife Marion and my two children feel very lucky too.

"Anyone who feels anything out of the ordinary should immediately get it checked out. And the earlier the better because if something is wrong it's easier to deal with it straight away. These doctors aren't miracle workers. They need something to work with.

"But Mr Akhtar did still think that smoking may have been something to do with it, even though I gave up ten years ago. So don't smoke, stay fit and get things checked."

Cancer of the mouth is as common as cervical cancer and it can be cured if diagnosed early enough.

Eight out of ten people don't realise that cancer can occur in the mouth and ignore a possibly cancerous mouth ulcer for many weeks and risk their chances of being cured.

Mr Akhtar said: "Nearly all cases of oral cancer are related to smoking but early diagnosis is associated with a better outcome from the point of view of survival and function.

"Very often it is too late with approximately 50 to 60 per cent cases presented being Stage IV cancer which is quite advanced.

"The most common presentation is non-healing mouth ulcers. The majority of oral ulcers heal within two weeks. If an ulcer hasn't healed within that period of time there is a higher risk of it being malignant.

"The other signs are red patches, white patches, lumps within the oral cavity, increased mobility of the teeth without obvious cause or lumps in the neck." Worried patients should contact their dentist or GP.