Preventative dentistry begins with general dental serivces such as screening for oral cancer.

What every person should know about oral cancer:

  • Oral cancer has three times as many victims as cervical cancer.
  • One person dies of oral cancer every hour of every day.
  • The incidence of oral cancer is growing.
  • The biggest growth in oral cancer is among young nonsmokers, and oral cancer is now linked to HPV.
  • When oral cancer is discovered in the early stages, the survival rate is very high, but when discovered late (which is normally the case), the survival rate is very low.
  • Health experts recommend that all adults receive annual oral cancer screenings.

Because of this risk to your health, our practice has recently invested in a state-of-the-art VELscope® system. As part of our visual oral cancer examination, it can help us discover potentially dangerous tissue that we might otherwise miss. Of course, the odds are that we won’t find anything that concerns us. But if we do, the VELscope device will increase our odds of finding it early rather than late. An oral cancer examination with a VELscope screening takes very little time, involves no pain or inconvenience, and is very affordable. So let’s plan to make this part of your next hygiene appointment.

We realize that dental insurance many times will not cover this exam. However, we believe it so important, that we have decreased the cost to make it very affordable for anyone.

Using the Velscope is a tool to help us identify suspicious areas, but it will not give us a definitive diagnosis. Your Doctor may decide to refer you to our team of Oral Surgeons for biopsy.