Your Visit To The Dentist Can Save Your Life

Periodic examination and new painless testing can help detect oral cancer, a disease that kills more people nationwide than either melanoma or cervical cancer.

Fortunately, most oral sores or lesions are not harmful. But a small number are dangerous, and if not identified early, they may progress to a more advanced stage.

Good News

When oral cancer is detected early by your dentist, the chances of a complete cure are highest.

Oral cancer is a devastating disease when detected in the later stages. Late stage treatment usually involves major facial surgery with only half of such patients surviving past five years. Therefore, it is important to see your dentist regularly so that dangerous oral lesions can be detected at an early, more easily curable stage.

Regular dental checkups, which include an examination of the entire mouth, are essential in the early detection of both cancerous and precancerous lesions. A person may have a dangerous oral lesion and not be aware of it.

Oral “sores” or “lesions” are extremely common.

The vast majority are harmless, but some are potentially dangerous.

Because harmful oral lesions often look identical to those that are harmless, the dentist cannot visually determine which lesions are troublesome. Only testing can do this.

Your dentist now has a quick and painless test that can help to identify which oral lesions need further treatment.

As part of a routine oral cancer exam, a dentist checks all parts of the mouth for lesions or sores.
Now, in addition to a visual check, your dentist has a new tool to aid in the detection of precancerous and cancerous lesions.

OralCDx® is a brush biopsy test that your dentist can use on lesions in your mouth to determine if there are potentially dangerous (precancerous or cancerous) cells present.

The OralCDx test does not require anesthesia or numbing, and causes minimal to no bleeding or discomfort.

A dentist performs a brush biopsy on an oral lesion using OraICDx.

After a special computer-assisted analysis, the laboratory informs the dentist whether the tissue from your lesion contains abnormal cells.

Reassurance

In the majority of cases, the sample obtained will be normal, reassuring you and the dentist that the oral lesion does not contain precancerous or cancerous cells. Your dentist may need to retest your lesion periodically if it persists or changes.

When abnormal cells are identified by the OralCDx test, your dentist will direct you for further testing. Rest assured that both you and your dentist have taken the right first step to detect oral cancer early when the chances of a complete cure are highest.

Some Facts About Oral Cancer

Oral cancer occurs more often in those who use tobacco in any form including: cigarettes, chewing tobacco, pipes and cigars, or those who consume large amounts of alcohol. But oral cancer can and does develop in people of all ages, races, and lifestyle habits. Over 25% of oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol socially.

An oral lesion may be a persistent sore or irritation, a small, flat red or white patch, or a growth, lump, thickening, rough spot, crust, or irritated area. It is often painless, and you may not be aware of it. Because many oral lesions are flat, very small, or in an area of your mouth that you cannot see, they can often be detected during a periodic oral examination by your dentist.

It is important to see your dentist at regular intervals so that any oral lesion found can be promptly evaluated.

Join the Fight Against Cancer

OralCDx represents a breakthrough in oral cancer detection, a test that will allow you and your dentist to improve the prognosis of a disease that has remained unchanged for the last 50 years.

The most important advances in fighting cancer have come from advances in early detection. For example, the examination of skin moles for melanoma, the Pap smear for cervical cancer, the rectal exam and PSA test for prostate cancer, and the physical exam and mammogram for breast cancer have all been important advances in the fight against cancer. Careful, periodic examination of your mouth by your dentist, and testing of oral lesions found during that examination with OralCDx, can have a similar impact on reducing oral cancer.