Here at Dr. Susan Weinberg’s dental office, we use the VELscope Vx instrument to help us find oral mucosal abnormalities, including oral cancer.
The VELscope Vx has been recognized by the World Health Organization to be the most effective and powerful tool available for assisting in the discovery of oral abnormalities.
With this tool, we can identify oral disease early, while it’s still easy to treat. The most important task that this tool offers us is its ability to locate areas in the mouth that have not yet developed into cancer, but if not treated could progress to oral cancer.
Finding oral cancer in its early stages, like any form of cancer, is critical to the survival rate of our patients.
The VELscope Vx offers us the opportunity for the early discovery of oral disease, which include pre-cancer and cancer.
Some of the risk factors associated with oral cancer are chewing and smoking tobacco and consuming alcohol. Also, over the last four decades, a virus known as Human Papilloma Virus, also known as HPV has been showing up in increasing numbers of oral cancer. This virus is more commonly known for its role in cervical cancer.
We use VELscope Vx because the VELscope’s blue light stimulates natural fluorescence in the soft tissues of the mouth. The natural fluorescence, when seen through the VELscope Vx, allows Dr. Weinberg to see a disease that otherwise is not detected with the naked eye.
The VELscope Vx enables Dr. Weinberg to discover oral disease before it is visible under ordinary light. This allows us an improved assessment of our patient’s overall oral health. We are then confident that the delicate tissues in the mouth are indeed healthy, allowing us to protect our patients from oral disease including oral cancer.
Using the VELscope Vx takes two minutes and requires no rinses, and produces no stains or discomfort. This simple two-minute exam could save your life.