Oral Cancer

Oral cancer is on the rise.

Oral cancer is on the rise for the fifth year in a row. In the US alone, 100 new individuals will be diagnosed with oral cancer daily and one person will die every hour of every day because of this disease. That's 8000 people per year.

It used to be that oral cancer was attributable primarily to age and smoking.  Now, there is evidence to the effect that it is being transmitted in young people thru sexual contact.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way.   Early detection, like everything else in the body, is the key.   We use  ViziLite, which is a chemo-luminescent test for early visual detection,  and a "brush biopsy" when we see a suspicious discontinuity in the oral soft tissue.

Oral Cancer has been a hot topic of discussion in the US recently, especially since Michael Douglas has been so candid in the media over the last few weeks appearing on both Oprah and The View. He and other oral cancer patients and survivors are urging the public to get an annual oral cancer exam. 

The dental community is the first line of defense against oral cancer, because, along with checking teeth, we evaluate the health of the soft tissues of the mouth in their entirety.

I sent this to all my patients via e-mail yesterday morning, June 8th, and Dr. Oz talked about it that afternoon on his TV show.  You can access that section of his show on the computer by going to Dr. Oz, then Wednesday's show.