VELscope

The world’s #1 oral cancer screening device.

The VELscope system is used to conduct more oral cancer exams than any other adjunctive device in the world. Since mid-2006, over 4,500 VELscope systems have been installed and approximately 3 million VELscope exams will be given in 2009 alone.

The leader in fluorescence visualization. The VELscope system is the first oral cancer screening device to incorporate fluorescence visualization technology to help detect abnormal tissue , including cancer and precancer. The science behind tissue this technology has been supported by over $50 million in research funded by the National Institutes of Health and other prestigious organizations.

A way to see what might otherwise be missed. The VELscope system is the first adjunctive device cleared by the FDA and Health Canada to help clinicians see cancerous and precancerous lesions that might not be visible to the naked eye. The VELscope is also the first device cleared to help surgeons determine the appropriate surgical margins if surgery is indicated. This is extremely important, as oral surgery often fails to remove 100% of the targeted tissue. (Click here for a summary of a study suggesting that the VELscope might reduce the recurrence of oral cancer.)

A detection device—not a diagnostic device. It is important to understand that the VELscope system is not a diagnostic device. It is used to detect tissue that appears to be abnormal. If the dentist is sufficiently suspicious of the tissue detected, a surgical biopsy should be conducted. Only when an oral pathologist reads the results of this surgical biopsy can a diagnosis be made.

Easy for clinicians - and for patients. VELscope exams may be given as part of a normal hygiene exam. The exam is easy for dentists and hygienists to administer, taking only 2-to-3 minutes. It is completely free of pain or discomfort for the patients, and it involves no distasteful rinses or messy dyes like some other systems.

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What every person should know about oral cancer:

• Oral cancer has 3 times as many victims as cervical cancer.
• One North American dies of oral cancer every hour of every day.
• The incidence of oral cancer is growing.
• The biggest growth in oral cancer is among young nonsmokers, and oral cancer in now linked to HPV.
  When oral cancer is discovered in early stages, the survival rate is very high, but when discovered late(which is normally the case), the survival rate is very low.
• Health experts recommend that all adults receive annual oral cancer screenings.

Because of this risk to your health, our practice has recently invested in a state-of-the-art VELscope® system. As part of our conventional oral cancer examination, it can literally help us discover potentially dangerous tissue that we might otherwise miss. Of course, the odds are that we won’t find anything that concerns us. But if we do, the VELscope device will increase our odds of finding it early rather than late.

An oral cancer examination with a VELscope screening takes very little time, involves no pain or inconvenience, and is very affordable. So let’s plan to make this part of your next hygiene appointment.