Should doctors notify women that they have dense breasts?

I had a call back for 2nd Mammo 2 years earlier looking at same place that cancer showed up. Was most likely hard to see with dense breasts. Enough to be suspicious but then not enough to test further. A year leather I don't think the tech squished down as muchalso missing it. When something did show up in a Nov a different tech really squished them. Otherwise I'd probably still have breasts and a tumor

I think we should be told, if for no other reasons then to make sure we don't decide to skip our annual mammogram. I almost did skip last year because I was busy and that's the mammogram that showed a 7 mm tumor. Glad I didn't blow that mammogram off for another year.

If I'd known I had dense breasts and that dense breasts are a risk factor for BC, no way I would have considered skipping a mammogram and I think that would be true of most people.

Only after my diagnosis was I told my 3 previous mammograms showed dense breasts. If I'd known that I might have been more proactive in trying to prevent BC with diet and exercise, I might have looked at and discussed other screening methods with my gyno, like ultrasound or an mri annually. Or I might not have done anything differently, but I think if someone has the risk factor of dense breasts they should be told about it and what this means should also be explained to them.

Also, until we're elderly virtually all of us have dense breasts (heterogeneously dense). It is really the 10% who have extremely dense breasts who are at higher risk simply from their breast density. I would imagine virtually everyipone gets this letter when they begin their screenings.

In CT where I live, it is the LAW to tell you if you have dense breasts so you can request additional testing if you choose (ultrasound usually) and I think a few other states are following suit. CT has had this law on the books for about 5 years I think.

http://c-hit.org/2013/10/14/ct-breast-density-screening-law-may-set-national-standard/

Reporting that you have dense breasts is the law in some states, including Minnesota.  I got the reports but failed to understand the significance.  I wish I had asked more informed questions about what that meant in terms of breast cancer prevention.  I read that very high density can be more significant than genetics.  I suspect this is due to detection issues.  Mammogram only caught calcification.  MRI and ultrasound found stage I cancer.  When we did a double lumpectomy, my surgeons were very surprised that the cancer was twice the size they thought.  The fact that density impacted detection, combined with already being high risk, was a significant part of my decision to get a bilateral mastectomy.  Having mammograms gave me an artificial sense of safety.  That said, I am so impressed with advances in medical technology.  The difference between my experience and my mom's experience is dramatic.  I am so grateful for medical researchers and pray for their continued progress.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/24532792

I hope you will take time to watch the video I posted, its very informative.