Our practice continually looks for advances to encure that we are providing the optimum level of oral health care to our patients. We are concened about oral cancer and look for it in every patient.

One American dies every hour from oral cancer. Late detection of oral cancer is the primary cause that both the incidence and mortallity rates of oral cancer continue to increase. As with most cancers, age is the primary risk factor for oral cancer. Tobacco and alcohol use are other major predisposing risk factors but more than 25% of oral cancer victims have no such lifestyle risk factors. Oral cancer risk by patient profile is as follows:

Increased risk: patients ages 18-39

High risk: patients age 40 and older; tobacco users (any age any type within 10 years)

Highest risk: patients age 40 and older with lifestyle risk factors (tobacco and/or alcohol use); previous history of oral cancer

We have recently incorporated ViziLite Plus (see Links above) into our oral screening standard of care. We find that using ViziLite Plus along with a standard oral cancer improves the ability to identify suspicious areas at their earliest stages. ViziLite Plus is similar to proven early detection procedures for other cancers such as mammography, Pap smear, and PSA. ViziLite Plus is a simple and painless examinatin that gives the best chance to find any oral abnormalities at the earliest possible stage. Early detection of pre-cancerous tissue can minimize or eliminate the potentially disfiguring effects of oral cancer and possibly save your life. The ViziLite exam will be offered to you annually.