Biscayne Dental Group

Reported link to HPV could mean that all adults are at risk for deadly and disfiguring disease

Miami, FL—April 14, 2009—Biscayne Dental Group announced today that it will hold an “Oral Cancer Awareness Day” event at its offices on Friday, April 24. The event will be from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at its 2125 Biscayne Blvd. Sui...te 510 location in Miami.

Anyone attending the event will receive a free 5-minute screening that will include an exam with Biscayne Dental Groups state-of-the-art VELscope Oral Cancer Screening System. The exam is completely safe and free of any pain or discomfort. The normal charge for the exam is $35. “Oral cancer kills one North American every hour of every day, and now strikes three times as many victims as cervical cancer,” said Dr. Julio Hernandez of Biscayne Dental Group. “Traditionally, oral cancer was most likely to strike older males who were tobacco and alcohol users. Now, however, an increasing number of oral cancer victims are younger men and women, which has been linked by several studies to exposure to the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus.”

Two-thirds of oral cancers are discovered in late stages, when the five-year survival rate is between 20% and 30%. The good news, said Dr. Hernandez, is that the survival rate leaps to 80% to 90% when the discovery takes place in early stages. “We are committed to the oral and overall health of our patients,” he said. “That means making sure that the most serious thing we ever discover is early stage cancer or, better yet, pre-cancer. Now that we have the VELscope system, the worst news we should ever have to give a patient is, ‘We found something, but we caught it early.’ And for the vast majority of our patients, our message will be, ‘Good news; everything looks fine.’ That provides great peace-of-mind to our patients, and to us.” Anyone desiring a screening is asked to call Biscayne Dental Group at (305) 572-1600 to schedule an appointment.Read More