April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month, and while no one wants to spend time thinking about oral cancer, it's a great time to remind you to get screened. Nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. alone will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer this year. In the fight against life-threatening oral cancer, early detection is a crucial factor. Smile Savers Dentistry offers oral cancer screening in our Columbia, MD office with the VELscope® Vx as part of your routine dental hygiene cleaning and exam.

While the chance of someone being diagnosed with oral cancer is small, every adult should be screened once a year. Oral cancer can often be found early in its development, through a simple, painless, and quick screening in our dental office. When discovered early, the 5-year survival rate for oral cancer patients is about 83%. While the VELscope® Vx does not diagnose cancer, it alerts us to areas of concern earlier than ever before. If we do happen to find a suspicious area during the exam, we’ll talk to you about the next steps. And if a VELscope® Vx exam that shows normal, healthy tissue can instantly give you peace of mind.

Smile Savers Dentistry is devoted to promoting your oral health. Dr. Daniel Stewart and his staff are constantly driven by the need to offer the utmost in quality care and service that's tailored to meet the needs of our patients, while adopting cutting edge technology. The VELscope® Vx is one of the many innovative ways through which we continue to provide outstanding oral health care to our patients. If you are overdue for your regular dental exam, call Smile Savers Dentistry at 410-730-6460 to schedule an appointment today. Our office accepts new and emergency dental patients in the Howard County area.

Sources:
VELscope™
Oral Cancer Foundation