Gail,

There is a product called ViziLite which is recommended to be done once a year as a screening for cells that have changed and are not visible to the naked eye. You can read about it on the web site by checking under "Products" then "products for dentists". You can also read about it at this site http://www.zila.com.

We have recently added this product to our oral cancer screening protocol in our office and will be recommending this procedure to our patients on a regular basis (once per year).

I have to admit that although this product has been available for quite some time, it took my cancer to get us to start using it in our office. We also do the brush biosies also discussed in the same area of this site.

With or without the use of ViziLite, it appears that your husband's lesions should have been detected during a routine oral cancer screening. I am truly sorry to hear that it was missed.

I hope that Barry is doing well. I have been away since July 17th which is around the time that you joined this forum and I am not familiar with his current status.

Jerry

Jerry

Retired Dentist, 59 years old at diagnosis. SCC of the left lateral border of the tongue (Stage I). Partial glossectomy and 30 nodes removed, 4/6/05. Nodes all clear. No chemo no radiation 18 year survivor.

"Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger"