Our New Technology Can Help Us Save Your Life
Visit Mountain View Dental for Your Oral Lesion Screening
Dr. Crusan has always made oral cancer evaluation an important part of our examination process here at Mountain View Dental. But now we have a real weapon in the fight against oral cancer, the Sapphire Oral Lesion Detection System. This process is quick and painless. It can be done at your regular check up appointments. We use a specialized light with a specific wave length. By shining this light in your mouth and looking through the viewing scope we can see normal tissue that reflects light and cancerous areas which show up much darker. It is a simple process yet technologically amazing. We are excited to offer this life saving diagnostic tool to our patients.
Oral Cancer Numbers on the Rise
Mountain View Dental's Sapphire Oral Lesion Detection System could save your life!
While Medicine has been making incredible strides in the fight against breast cancer, and a host of other forms of cancer, oral cancer is one of the few cancer types that has actually seen an increase. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 28,500 new cases of oral cancer, resulting in approximately 6,100 deaths, were expected in 2009. Additionally, the death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, laryngeal cancer, cancer of the testes, endocrine system cancers and melanoma. Most recently there has been a disturbing jump in the number of young women diagnosed with oral cancer related to Human Papilloma Virus. What’s more alarming, certain types of the Human Papilloma virus (HPV), the virus commonly associated with cervical cancer have been linked to about one –fourth of oral and oropharyingeal cancers. HPV has caused an increase of cases in young non-smoking individual with low levels of alcohol consumption; a group that until recently had a low rate of oral cancer incidence.
The Importance of Early Detection
When it comes to combating oral cancer, early detection of oral lesions is a key factor. While most oral lesions are benign, there are some lesions that could lead to cancer or may already be cancerous. Getting screened by your dentist is an effective way to discover oral cancer at an early, highly curable stage. The traditional method of examination is by visual and physical inspection of the oral cavity, throat, and neck. This method can be effective, but often oral cancer doesn’t show symptoms until later stages when it is harder to treat.
We Are Excited to Share This Technology with You
Early detection is why we are so excited to incorporate this technology into our care of your oral health. I have witnessed the devastating affects of late stage oral cancer in a friend’s mother who I will call “Mary.” Mary came to me as a new patient complaining of a sore under her tongue. At her initial examination it was obvious that cancer was present. Originally her prognosis was grim. Fortunately, we were able to diagnose the problem and get her into the hands of qualified specialists who were able to remove the cancer. Amazingly her life was spared, but there were heavy costs. All of Mary’s lower teeth had to be removed and more than a third of her tongue.
The Sapphire Lesion Detection System will help us to detect these types of cancer at an early stage when they would be more difficult to detect by our normal manual oral cancer evaluation. If you have questions about Oral cancer or our early detection system, please ask Dr. Crusan or our hygienists Brenda and Holly at your next appointment.