What everyone should know about oral cancer

More than 2,000 new cases of cancer of the mouth are diagnosed annually in the Czech Republic, and unfortunately, fewer than 50% of the patients with this diagnosis will live longer than five years. Early detection of the disease helps to improve the chances of survival from 50% to almost 90% in the subsequent five years. While the incidence of oral cancer is twice as high as the incidence of cervical cancer, prevention is, unfortunately, given far less attention. One of the possible agents is the HPV virus. Women aged 25-40 run the highest risk of oral cancer.

Preventive check-ups

The Canadian Medical dental centre is one of the few dental centres equipped with the unique VELscope instrument, which offers dentists an easy-to-use supportive investigative tool for early detection of oral mucosal abnormalities. In addition to the detection of oral cancer, the instrument detects other mucosal abnormalities, such as viral, fungal and bacterial infections and other problems. The equipment, which is patented, was developed by the Canadian company LED Dental in collaboration with the world-renowned British Columbia Cancer Agency.

How the instrument works                          

The technology is based on a simple principle. Mucosa that is not healthy reflects certain frequencies of light differently from the surrounding tissue. The VELscope emits a harmless blue light (400-460nm wavelength), which lights up the area under examination in the oral mucosa. The light makes the epithelium fluorescent, then passes through the basal lamina to the submucosal fibrous tissue where the collagen fibres are made fluorescent. Through a special optical filter located in the manual instrument, the doctor can immediately see changes in the oral mucosa, which helps him/her to detect abnormal cell activity.

Come for a preventive check-up

Canadian Medical is offering screening for oral cancer with all dental check-ups. This preventive measure will not take more than two minutes and can be easily incorporated into a regular dental check-up. The examination is completely painless, non-invasive, and does not involve staining the tissue and rinsing.

We provide preventive screening for cancer of the oral cavity at the AFI clinic with all dental treatments. The screening is performed by a doctor, and we recommend that you undergo such screening once every six months. If you do not make an appointment with a doctor but only for dental hygiene, please inform our receptionist that you would also like preventive dental screening.