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Vizilite Cancer Screening at Sandalwood Dental
About Oral Cancer
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.
- 25% of oral cancer victims do not use tobacco or alcohol and have no other lifestyle risk factors.
Yes, but is it covered by my insurance?
In some cases yes, in some cases no. In the future we fully expect every dental insurance company to pay for the Vizilite screening. The cold reality is that a lot of dental insurance companies simply do not, and the reason for this is that if you were to develop oral cancer, your Health insurance would pick up the tab. Unfortunately, dental insurance companies therefore don’t feel an overwhelming incentive to pay for a mess they don’t have to ever clean up. This is sad, but true. Dental insurance companies are a business and as such are out to maximize profits. If you use tobacco, the small fee for an annual vizilite test should be the least of your concerns.
How ViziLite Plus Works
ViziLite Plus with TBlue is an oral lesion identification and marking system that is used to supplement conventional head and neck examination. Basically, it allows us to see oral cancer in stage one or two when it is much more treatable. Without this test, our eyes can only discern oral cancer in the later stages. It’s that simple. The test uses a chemiluminescent light source (ViziLite) to improve the identification of lesions and a blue phenothiazine dye to mark those lesions identified by ViziLite.
As is the case with most cancers, age is the primary risk factor for oral cancer. Approximately 90% of oral cancer victims are age 40 and older, recent studies indicate that increasingly, patients younger than age 40 are being diagnosed with oral cancer. Though tobacco and alcohol use are the primary lifestyle risk factors that contribute to the development of oral cancer, 25% of oral cancer victims do not use tobacco or alcohol, and have no lifestyle risk factors. Oral cancer affects men more than women, 2:1, but oral cancer in women is on the rise nationwide.
FDA Clearance
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. This is the same technology that has been used since 1995 for the identification of abnormalities in stratified squamous epithelium. Chemiluminescent light technology was originally tested on 13,000 cervical cancer patients and obtained FDA clearance for use as a visual screening device for cervical cancer. Clinical research demonstrated that the illumination device doubled cervical cancer detection. It is the same technology used in ViziLite.