What every person needs to know about oral cancer and what we can do to help protect you from it.
Rates of occurrence in the United States
Close to 36,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year. It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 36,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only slightly more than half will be alive in 5 years. This is a number which has not significantly improved in decades.
Who should be concerned?
The majority of oral cancer victim’s smokes or use chewing tobacco, consume alcohol and are over 40. But the group experiencing the highest growth rate of oral cancer incidence does not fit this traditional “at risk” profile. More and more, oral cancer is striking younger people who don’t use tobacco or abuse alcohol. As a result, health care experts recommend annual oral cancer screenings for all adults aged 18 and older.
Early Visualization Of Mucosal Diseases
VELscope® is a revolutionary hand-held device that provides dentists and hygienists with an easy-to-use adjunctive mucosal examination system for the early detection of abnormal tissue. The patented VELscope technology platform was developed in collaboration with the British Columbia Cancer Agency and MD Anderson Cancer Center, with funding provided in part by the NIH. It is based on the direct visualization of tissue fluorescence and the changes in fluorescence that occurs when abnormalities are present.
VELscope combines minimal per-patient costs with more effective screening.
Questions?
If you have any questions about oral cancer or the VELscope exam, please let us know. Your oral health is the key to your overall health, and we want to help you in any way we can.