VELScope® Oral Cancer Screening

Our office is not only dedicated to your smile, we're also dedicated to your overall wellness. We take a holistic approach to your dental care, which includes an oral cancer screening as a part of your regular exam. Like many kinds of cancer, oral cancer can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

We have the skills and tools to ensure that early signs and symptoms of oral cancer and pre-cancerous conditions are identified. While these symptoms may be caused by other, less serious problems, it is very important to visit our office to rule out the possibility of oral cancer. The most common symptoms of oral cancer include:

• Red and white mixed spots or sores anywhere in the oral cavity
• A sore that bleeds easily or does not heal
• A lump, thickening, or rough spot
• Pain, tenderness, or numbness anywhere in the mouth or on the lips
• Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

Our team is trained in a simple, quick screening that involves an examination of your oral cavity as a whole, and not just your teeth, to detect cancerous and precancerous conditions. Besides a visual examination of your mouth and throat, we will also feel the tissue of your mouth to detect any abnormalities.

If we find an area of concern, we will use an adjunctive visual examination device called Velscope, which is a wireless, handheld scope that uses natural tissue fluorescence to enhance visualization of oral mucosal abnormalities. 

Aside from receiving an oral cancer screening during your checkup at our office, there are many things you can do to help prevent oral cancer.

• The best way to prevent oral cancer is to avoid all tobacco products and only drink alcohol in moderation.
• Maintain a healthy, balanced diet.
• Limit your exposure to the sun and always wear UV-A/B-blocking, sun-protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

VELscope Oral Cancer Screening System

More than 480,000 new cases of oral and throat cancers are diagnosed each year, and over 35,000 of those cases are right here in the United States. Oral cancer kills one person every hour in the U.S., and without proper detection methods, a person may have oral cancer and not even know it. In almost all cases of oral cancer, early detection plays a major role in a patient's chances of survival. By diagnosing and treating oral cancer early, a patient's five year survival rate is 80-90% greater.

Risk factors for oral cancer include:

• Frequent use of tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco)
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• Genetics (a family history of oral cancer or any type of cancer)
• Excessive exposure to the sun at a young age

While men above the age of 50 are typically at the most risk for oral cancer, there has been a recent increase in the number of women with oral cancer due to a connection between oral cancer and the human papilloma virus (HPV-16).

How VELscope works

The VELscope screening system consists of a specialized white light source and viewing scope that make it easier for your doctor to look closely at the tissues inside your mouth. Normal tissues will almost glow a bright green color. Abnormal tissue shows up much darker under the special light.

An abnormal screening does not always mean that the patient has cancer. If an abnormal screening occurs, your doctor may schedule a second scan later to see if the dark spots disappear, or may choose to perform a gentle, non-invasive brush biopsy to make sure it's not cancer.