by Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS
Early oral cancer detection saves lives. Dental health professionals know about oral cancer yet statistics on early detection are abysmal. According to many sources, 66 percent of the oral cancer cases are not diagnosed until they are in Stage III and IV, which result in approximately 50 percent dying within five years. Early discovery and diagnosis yields better long-term outcomes. Educating the public and developing awareness regarding risk factors that lead to oral cancer are primary responsibilities of the dental community. How can clinicians quantify risk factors for better decision making?
PreViser Corporation, founded by clinicians, has developed what may be the first objective technology to accurately assess risk, the Oral Health Information Suite™ www.previser.com. A recent major enhancement incorporated a new tool designed to assess risk for oral cancer.
This requires no expensive or unusual testing; it simply gathers data about the client's risk factors, and then generates a report for the client including a numeric risk score. Knowing a client's risk level along with conventional oral screening enables the dental professional to recommend appropriate care, with the patient more likely to accept it.
With a higher risk score, care might include more frequent examination, further evaluation with Zila's Vizilite www.vizilite.com, which facilitates the identification of suspect sites, or diagnostic testing of benign-appearing oral spots with an Oral CDx Brush biopsy www.oralcdx.com. The best first steps are using PreViser's tools for incorporating risk analysis for oral cancer into the practice of dentistry.
Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS, is a speaker, author, and practicing dental hygiene clinician offering CE courses to national audiences through her company Professional Direction Conferences on eagle eye dental hygiene assessments, minimal intervention, evidence based decision making and her favorite hobby horse — early oral cancer detection. She can be reached to schedule courses at [email protected] or (630) 292-1473.
