BOSTON, Massachusetts--Ticketholders to the Boston Red Sox' Fourth Annual Tooth Day July 7, 2009, at Fenway oral cancer awareness event may receive a free oral cancer screening at Fenway Park's main concourse.
Screenings start when the gates open at 5 p.m. and continue until 6:45. For the first time, the event will feature TRIMIRA LLC's Identafi 3000 oral cancer detection device--a screening tool for revealing signs of oral cancer and pre-cancer.
Fenway Park's oral cancer screening event will be conducted by dental professionals, including Dr. Heidi Aaronson, DDS, who is in practice with her father, Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, DDS, in Wellesley.
Students of Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity Gamma Chapter at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine will be on hand to assist.
Leading the team of 30 to 40 student volunteers will be Dr. Michael A. Kahn, DDS, chair and professor of the oral and maxillofacial department at Tufts University.
Dr. Aaronson came up with the idea four years ago of organizing a mass oral health screening at a Red Sox game, and since then has met regularly with the team to plan a series of events to make the public aware of the dangers of smokeless tobacco. She threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Second Annual Tooth Day at Fenway Park.
"We will have two Identafi 3000 units and two chairs set up to screen participants," Dr. Aaronson said.
She explained that, in addition to conducting examinations, the team will distribute toothpaste and toothbrush samples, as well as informational handouts.
Dr. Aaronson noted that last year the dental team was able to examine more than 100 members of the public during prgame screening. She added that the volunteers in Tooth Day will be recognized on the park's Jumbotron during the game.
Designed expressly for use by dentists and other health professionals, Identafi 3000 incorporates next-generation, multispectral (triple-wavelength) optical technology.
Multispectral imaging for early cancer detection was developed by a team of research scientists at America's top-rated and largest cancer center, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, in collaboration with Houston's Rice University and British Columbia Cancer Research Centre in Vancouver, Canada.
Identafi 3000 represents an advance in the visualization of mucosal abnormalities, including oral cancer or premalignant dysplasia. The technology not only is diagnostic in screening for oral cancers but also will be applied to diagnose cervical, gastrointestinal, skin, and bladder cancers.
The detection device empowers health professionals to pinpoint biochemical and morphological changes in cells.
Identafi 3000 is made by Houston-based TRIMIRA, which is venture capital-funded by cancer research philanthropist T. Boone Pickens of oil and windfarming fame.
For more information, visit TRIMIRA.
To read more about TRIMIRA, go to TRIMIRA.
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