Dennis Douda
Reporting
(WCCO) Oral cancer is one of the deadliest of cancers with 43 percent of patients won't survive five years. That means for some of the 30,000 Americans who will be told this year they have oral cancer, it will be found too late. However, dentists may be among those improving the odds.
Dental hygiene has come to include much more than just attending to toothaches. It has become routine for dentists to take a look around the mouth for oral cancer. However, studies have shown, by the time dentists can see a problem, the cancer may have already advanced to stage 3 or 4.
One tool for earlier detection is ViziLite, a non-invasive technique that takes just minutes. The process starts with a dilute, acetic-acid mouthwash to dehydrate the tissue surfaces. Then the dentist shines light from a special, luminescent glow stick into the mouth. Abnormal tissues reflect the blue light, making abnormal tissues appear white.
Dr. Ned Windmiller's office is one of more than a hundred Minnesota dental practices listed on the ViziLite company physician-finder Web site. Making dental professionals the first line of defense in oral cancer detection makes perfect sense to him.
"General population will go to the dentist more often than they will the doctor for a physical," said Windmiller. "You look at the history of medicine; mammograms, colonoscopy, Pap smear, (and see) how the death rate has decreased tremendously. Now we have a tool in dentistry to detect oral cancer."
When the process was first used to find cervical cancer detection rates doubled. Precancerous changes in the epithelial cells lining the mouth are very similar to those lining the cervix, so the application seems logical. Windmiller charges $65 for the ViziLite test, which, he says, some insurance companies cover.
Seventy-five percent of oral cancers strike those who smoke, chew tobacco or drink excessively.
Warning signs include a white or dark patch inside the mouth, a sore that won't heal, a lump on the lip or in the mouth, or the feeling that something is caught in the throat. Consult a doctor if any of these suspicious symptoms are present.