VELscope Oral Cancer Screening

Oral cancer is often deemed the \"forgotten disease,\" because it kills more people than testicular cancer, cervical cancer and cancer of the brain each year and receives little publicity in return.

Each year, over 30,000 Americans contract oral cancer, and only 57% of these people will live for more than five years without treatment.

Many people believe that if they abstain from tobacco and alcohol use, oral cancer will not affect them. Tobacco and alcohol use does contribute to oral cancer; however, 25% of those diagnosed abstain from both substances.

One of the best way to stay protected from oral cancer is to get an annual oral cancer screening using the FDA-approved VELscope.

How does the VELscope work?

The VELscope uses Fluorescence Visualization (FV) to detect oral cancer in its earliest stages. A bright blue light is shone into the mouth to expose changes and lesions that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. The healthy soft tissue of the mouth naturally absorbs the VELscope frequency of blue light. Healthy areas beneath the surface of the soft tissue show up green, and the problem areas become much darker. The VELscope System gives us important insight as to what is happening beneath the surface.

Here are some of the advantages:

• Can be combined with digital photography.
• Detects lesions, white and red patches.
• Detects problem areas that cannot be seen under white light.• Exposes precancerous and cancerous tissue.
• FDA-approved.
• Helps dentists check that diseased soft tissue is completely removed.
• Helps diagnose oral cancer in its earliest stages, exponentially increasing the chance of survival.
• Quick, painless examinations.

How is the VELscope® examination performed?

The VELscope examination takes only two or three minutes and is painless and noninvasive. Initially, your dentist will perform a regular visual examination of the whole lower face. This includes the glands, tongue, cheeks and palate as well as the teeth. Next a pre-rinse solution is swilled around the mouth for less than a minute. The small VELscope is bent to project blue light inside the mouth. Lesions and other indicators of oral cancer are easily noticeable because they appear much darker under the specialized light.

If symptoms are noted, your dentist may take a biopsy to determine whether or not it is oral cancer. The results of the biopsy dictate the best course of action moving forward.