New Tools in the Fight Against Oral Cancer

Recently some new devices have come to dentists' aid in the recognition and diagnosis of oral cancers. Oral cancers do not always look scary and obvious. Check out the following pictures of various oral cancers.

They may not look scary but the facts regarding oral cancers are very scary;
- 34,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year.
- Of these 34,000 newly diagnosed people, 48% will be dead within five years.
- Oral cancer, unlike many other cancers, has not shown a decrease in mortality in the last 30 years.
- 25% of oral cancers occur in people with no known risk factors.
- Oral cancer occurrence is rising in young people, women, and non-smokers - those people traditionally thought of as being protected from oral cancers. This is often caused by HPV, the human papilloma virus, the same virus that causes 95% of cervical cancer.
- Oral cancer is as common as leukemia and it claims more lives than melanoma and cervical cancers.

 Several methods are available for detecting and screening for oral cancers. One method used is a "brush biopsy." These have been around for several years. It consists of a little brush that your dentist will use to scrape off some of the mucosal cells. The brush gets sent to an outside laboratory for analysis.

Another method is the Velscope. The Velscope is an early oral cancer detection device that uses a light to visualize abnormal cells. Oral cancers can be seen by the naked eye only when they are quite advanced. This is why the mortality rate of oral cancers is so high. The Velscope is an inexpensive screening tool that can be utilized to see these cellular changes early on.

The Vizlite is another device that uses light to visualize cellular changes. These methods also can detect a change in the cells below the surface of the tissue.

In the event of a positive test, all these methods would be followed up with a biopsy for definitive diagnosis.

The main purpose of these methods is to catch a cancer early on. As with any cancer, early detection is the key. All of these tests are simple, non-invasive, and inexpensive. If you have any concerns or have risk factors in your lifestyle, don't wait! Check it out. Your life could depend on it.

Now I know...

I always wondered why people had these, now I know.....
http://dentvid.com/?p=87 (watch video)

Implant Retained Dentures

People who wear complete dentures tend to lose the bone that supports the denture over years of time. The bone, especially that of the lower jaw, constantly deteriorates without natural teeth in place. This loss of bone makes it difficult for those with dentures to achieve a good fit and maintain it.


Denture wearers learn to keep their teeth in place by positioning their lip, tongue, and cheek muscles for optimal retention. Many people master these techniques for holding their teeth in place quite well, while others have issues with facial posturing and facial tension which can be undesirable.


If dentures move excessively when eating, speaking, coughing, etc., implants can be effectively used to improve denture retention.

Dental implants are most commonly used to replace missing teeth. But another excellent use of implants is in the stabilization of dentures. A couple of implants in the bone can create a button or snap to which the denture can lock. With a denture locked in place and the fear of it shifting is removed, a person can have increased confidence, better nutrition and improved facial esthetics.

When people know they have a denture that will not fall out or shift during function, the facial muscles relax, leading to an improved facial appearance. Implant retained dentures may also create fewer sore spots because the denture is additionally supported by bone, not just soft tissue.

Implants can be retrofitted into an existing denture or planned with the initial placement of a denture. If you are one of the many people for whom dentures can literally be a pain, an implant retained denture may be the answer.

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Whoops! Denture Blunder!

The Bite Runner

The bite or what dentists call “occlusion” refers to the way your teeth come together when you close your jaw. Ideally we want the bite to be balanced, meaning that all the back teeth touch at the same time when biting and swallowing. When touching the biting edges of your top and bottom teeth together, the back teeth should separate. When the teeth do not meet in this manner and interferences with jaw movement result, dental problems like clenching and grinding, excessive tooth wear, and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues can arise.

A bad bite can contribute to clenching (usually during the day, holding upper and lower teeth together forcefully) and grinding (usually while sleeping, sliding clenched teeth side to side). Most people who exhibit this behavior are completely unaware that they are doing it and if they are aware, often do not realize that this is abnormal. The daily “clenchers” with bad bites also tend to grind their teeth at night, blissfully unaware that they are causing compounding the damage to their teeth, gums, and TMJ.


The teeth of those people with bad bites tend to demonstrate some common characteristics. Typical problems visible are heavy wear facets where the teeth contact improperly, cracked or fractured teeth, cracked or fractured restorations, notching of the root surfaces (abfractions), and worn down teeth. Teeth naturally wear down with age and use, but with excessive stress teeth wear at an exaggerated rate. The teeth will exhibit “wear beyond their years.”

Gum (periodontal) problems are also exacerbated by a bad bite. Unusual forces or stresses can strain the socket like bone surrounding the teeth. With constant stress the bone breaks down and is lost. When the bone goes, the gums go with it. Over a period of time there is nothing left to support the teeth and they become loose and painful.


Bite problems can cause many TMJ issues. The main symptoms are clicking, locking open or closed, pain in the TMJ and muscles surrounding, muscle tension, and migraine or tension headaches. All these problems occur when the joint is excessively stressed which makes the muscles work harder. The muscles spasm and constrict nerves and blood supply to the sides of the head resulting in headaches.

So how do we fix a bad bite? The solution is determined by the cause of the bite problem. If the bad bite is a result of improper tooth position, braces can be an effective treatment. If the bad bite is a consequence of missing teeth, bridges, partials, dentures, and implants can be used to restore the bite. If the bite problem causes clenching and/or grinding, a bite guard would be an effective treatment to reduce damage to the teeth and TMJ.