We had a patient in our office last month that had a suspicious area detected by the VELscope. We had our oral surgeon check it out and he agreed that the patient should see my head and neck surgeon at Fox Chase Center.

The surgeon did a biopsy and fortunately it came back negative. Now his wife is mad at us because we sent him to have the biopsy and there was nothing wrong.

Can you believe it?

Jerry

Jerry so many problems like this are caused by the publics ignorance of Oral Cancer,I wonder if she would react like this if her Doctor ordered a pap smear or a mammogram that came back negative.Ignorance is a daunting enemy. You just keep on being the brilliant advocate that you are

love liz

I guess at this you would say .."better safe then sorry right ?" I have had a biopsy due to an area that came back suspcious cuz of VelScope as well and my biospy was negative ....but I would due it again tomorrow if need be !! Maybe you should tell his wife to come and read this site for a while .

Shar

A short-sighted attitude indeed, Jerry. I wonder whether the woman ever has a mammogram or pap smear test?

Keep up your good work, Helen

This lady must be related to the one that slapped Dr. Mike when she got the diagnosis of SCC! (Another one for the "just can't win" file) Your patient should have been dancing around and celebrating at the news and considering herself especially fortunate that you, the oral surgeon and the ENT were so conscientious in the care of her husband. Jerry - please just keep doing what you are doing. You are saving lives!

Maybe she would have slapped me if she had been in the office. Fortunately, my office manager dealt with her on the phone!

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. Anne-Marie is right, sometimes, you "just can't win".

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Jerry

I don't mean any harm, and I know it isn't possible, but I would LOVE to have the address of this woman!

How can you possibly be mad when your doctor is doing the "preventative" measures? I'm constantly amazed at the ignorance of the so-called "educated" America.

Makes me want to puke.

Mandi

Jerry,
I'm sure we will see more emotional outbursts from our patients.
Personally I would rather see a false positve and know that a suspicious area is nothing than finding out later after "observing" that it's something bad.
After all, a biopsy is much kinder than the surgery.
I often wonder exactly what people expect us to do in these cases. There is no recipe book. I can sleep at night knowing that I would treat my mother, my wife, my daughter or my son the way I would expect to treated, so that is my standard of care for people who are under my care. I'm much more agressive with abnormal lesions than 99% of my colleagues. I did some quick math, I recommended 243 patients have abnormal looking areas biopsied; 187 took my advice and had a biopsy, 17 were OC, 68 were other benign conditions that required treatment and follow-up ( lichen planus, cicitricial phemphegoid etc.), and the remainder came back OK.
I am not at all uncomfortable with these stats. My opimion of what I see has to be the same, so if I would have my own Dr. biopsy it if I had it then I must make that recommendation to my patient.
Rambling...I know but I hope I made my point.
You can't drive a car with your eyes closed and you can't categorize abnormal tissue without a microscope.

Just my own humble opinion.
( When in doubt, cut it out!! Then you can actually name the doubt and if all goes well it won't be OC.)

Cheers,

Mike

Sometimes, you poor dentists just can't win. It's got to be hard when you know in your hearts you are doing all you can to help your patients and they in turn are upset (or give you a slap on the face).

That "C" word...whether your confirming that someone does or doesn't have it...it's such an emotionally charged word. It's a shame that one stupid word can have that much power. And, it's unfortunate when the emotions of that word are displaced towards you.

I think being a dentist is a tough job. I, personally, have a love/hate relationship with mine. He's a wonderful person and dentist, yet I hate, hate, hate going to see him...even for a routine visit.

I just had some old fillings replaced and I never do well with the numbing shots. Today, I look like a squirrel who has one cheek that is chock full of nuts.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure the dents my finger nails made in his chair while he was drilling are permanent. I wasn't in any pain, but it's the sound of the drill that sends me through the roof.

Keep up the great work guys!!

Margaret,
Thanks for your understanding and support. I will clear one issue up though... being a dentist is not tough at all (bear with me here...and I think if Jerry reads this he will probably agree with me.) What I do is easy..until you attach a person to the tooth!!! Once that happens ..look out... you then have to explain to them and make sure they understand your findings. I usually allow an hour for that visit, but it took me four years after my undergraduate degree to understand it. That is the tough part. If I was only making teeth pretty and people were not attached to them my job would be stress free. I knew I shoulda been a Vet...animals can't talk!!

If you want some sugeestions on how to love your dentist appoimntments...e=mail or PM me.

That'll be $250.00 for the new upholstery.

Cheers,

Mike