Oral Cancer

Oral Cancer

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, one person dies from oral cancer every hour of every day in the United States. The American Cancer Society recently released its projected statistics for 2007 and they believe that this year, more than 34,000 new patients will be diagnosed with oral cancer and an additional 7,550 are expected to die from the disease.

The Good News

Fortunately, early detection has an 80% to 90% survival rate. During semi annual exams, Oral Cancer Screenings (OCS) are performed by your dentist, during which the inside of your cheeks, tongue and gum tissue are all screened in addition the head and neck are palpated for any suspicious areas. Dream Smile Dental has recently acquired the latest Oral Cancer Screening technology called VELScope. It uses a bright blue light that can highlight potentially dangerous tissue, which cannot necessarily be seen with the naked eye. (Approximately twenty five percent of Oral Cancers have no noticeable symptoms).

How Prevention Works

If there is a concern with a particular area, a biopsy may be recommended as a preemptive measure. Most biopsies result in benign findings, but if further treatment is required, the dentist will provide you with your options. Diagnosing and eliminating cancer in it's earliest stages minimizes it's spread, and ultimately saves lives.

Risk Factors

It is said that men are twice as likely to get oral cancer as women, not necessarily because of gender specificities, more so because of life style differences. Other risk factors include, but are not limited to the following:

• Smoking
• Excessive Alcohol consumption
• Combined use of tobacco & alcohol
• Excessive unprotected exposure to sun

Risk factors not in your control:
• Age, because immune system becomes less efficient
• HPV viral infection
• Gender

With the addition of the VELScope, we can become aware of suspicious areas in the mouth, before they even grow into a lesion. Ask your dental professional for more information on the VELScope!

Links

Oral Cancer Foundation 2007
National Cancer Institute
American Dental Association
Oral Cancer Consortium
VELScope