More than 25 percent of oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and have no other risk factors. Despite advances in the treatment of oral cancer, the five-year survival rate in Canada is only 62 percent – a marginal improvement in survival over the last several decades. The problem is that many oral cancers are diagnosed at advanced stages.

Screening for early changes in the oral tissue can help detect cancer at a stage when it can be more successfully treated. During a dental exam, the dental hygienist will check your neck and oral tissues for lumps, red or white patches or recurring sore areas. Then the hygienist will use Velscope System to perform oral cancer screening. The VELscope hand piece emits a safe blue light into the oral cavity, which excites the tissue from the surface of the epithelium through to the basement membrane (where premalignant changes typically start) and into the stroma beneath, causing it to fluoresce. The dental hygienist is then able to immediately view the different fluorescence responses to help differentiate between normal and abnormal tissue.