Oral Cancer Screening
Oral exam for oral cancer screening
Your dentist may perform an oral exam during your routine dental visit to screen for oral cancer. Early detection means a greater chance for a cure. During an oral exam, your dentist looks for red or white patches or mouth sores.
Many people have abnormal sores in their mouths that are usually noncancerous. An oral exam doesn’t determine if a sore is cancerous – so if your dentist finds an unusual sore, a biopsy may be necessary.
Who should consider oral cancer screening?
Patients with a high risk of oral cancer may be more likely to benefit from oral cancer screening. Factors that can increase the risk of oral cancer include:
- Tobacco use of any kind, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco and snuff, among others
- Heavy alcohol use
- Previous oral cancer diagnosis
Your dentist will know if oral cancer screening is appropriate for you. Also ask about ways you can reduce your risk of oral cancer, such as quitting smoking and not drinking alcohol.
VELscope Vx
The Two-Minute Exam That Could Save Your Life
Why VELscope?
The VELscope system helps us visualize abnormalities in the mucosal tissues of your lips, mouth and upper throat. In just two minutes, with no rinses, stains or discomfort, a VELscope examination lets us improve our assessment of your overall oral health.
Make sure that your mouth is as healthy as it can possibly be. The next time you visit us, ask for a VELscope exam.
How Does the VELscope Work?
The VELscope's blue light "excites" molecules (called "fluorophores") deep within the layers of oral mucosal tissues. In turn, those fluorophores emit their own light (fluorescence), in shades of green, yellow and red. The VELscope's proprietary filter makes fluorescence visualization possible, by blocking reflected blue light, and by enhancing the contrast between normal and abnormal tissue.
Oral Cancer
Approximately 36,540 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx in 2010. During the same time period 7,880 Americans will die of oral cancer.*
One of the VELscope system's most important tasks is to help identify areas that might, if not identified and treated, progress to oral cancer. The statistics below, from the National Cancer Institute's SEER Database, 1999-2006, are a compelling argument for regular VELscope exams:
- Found early, while still Localized (confined to the primary site), oral cancer's five-year survival rate is good: about 83%. Only 33% of all oral cancer discoveries fall into this category.
- Found while Regional (progressed to regional lymph nodes) the five-year survival rate drops significantly, to about 55%. Approximately 46% of all oral cancer discoveries are Regional.
- Found late, oral cancer's five-year survival rate is poor: approximately 32%. This accounts for approximately 14% of all oral cancer findings.
Clearly, finding oral cancer in its early stages is key to survival. The VELscope Vx offers hope for the early discovery of oral precancers and cancers, by providing us with visual information that may not be apparent under ordinary light.
For more information on oral cancer, please visit the Oral Cancer Foundation.
Oral Disease
Oral disease can have serious repercussions for both physical and psychological health. Oral-facial pain can be crippling, interfering with such basic activities as chewing, swallowing, talking, working, and sleeping. Conditions that change or distort our facial features can make us feel less attractive, leading to social withdrawal and depression.
The VELscope system has been developed to help dental professionals discover a wide variety of oral abnormalities, including oral precancer and cancer. By shining VELscope's safe blue light in a patient's oral cavity, a dentist is able to distinguish between normal and abnormal tissue. That helps in the quest to find oral disease, even if it's invisible under ordinary light.
* All statistics from the National Cancer Institute's SEER Database.