Vizilite - Oral Cancer Screening

Bright Smiles Dental continually looks for advances to ensure that we are providing the optimum level of oral preventative care to our patients.

Most people are surprised to learn that one American dies every hour from oral cancer; a death rate that has remained virtually unchanged for more than 40 years. In fact, recent statistics published by the American Cancer Society indicate that while the incidence and death rates for cancers overall has decreased, the incidence of oral cancer has increased by 5.5% and the death rate has increased by 1.5%

Oral cancer is far too often discovered in late stage development, the primary reason for the consistently high death rate. Oral cancer treatment often results in disfiguring effects on patients, and can seriously compromise their quality of life. Early detection and diagnosis can make a tremendous difference in life expectancy; oral cancer is 90% curable when found in its early stages. Unfortunately, 70% of oral cancers are diagnosed in the late stages, III and IV, leading to a five-year survival rate of 57%.

THE DEADLY STATISTICS

• Every hour of every day, one American dies of oral cancer.
• The mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not improved significantly in the last 40 years.
• The death rate in the United States for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin's disease, cancer of the brain, liver, testes, kidney, or ovary.
• More than 30,000 Americans will receive an oral cancer diagnosis this year. In five years, only 57% will still be alive.
• 27% of oral cancer victims do not use tobacco or alcohol and have no other lifestyle risk factors.

Fortunately, there's a simple technology to help in your fight against oral cancer. ViziLite Plus aids in the early identification of oral abnormalities that can lead to cancer. Cleared by the FDA, ViziLite Plus allows dentists to offer superior care to patients. In November of 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared ViziLite as an adjunct to visual examination of the oral cavity.  It remains the only medical device for this application cleared for use in a population at increased risk for oral cancer.ViziLite Plus with TBlue630™ is the only FDA-cleared oral lesion identification and marking system available.

Please feel free to view our informative video on this innovative new screening process by clicking the following link - mms://www.vizilite.com/Zila300.wmv

If you need additional written information then please click the following link -            http://www.vizilite.com/patient_site/