Oral cancer is no different than other forms of the disease. You need to detect and treat it early to prevent it from spreading and growing into something more severe. Your general dentist in Chicago will always conduct an oral cancer screening during your comprehensive exams or checkups. Our team has special technology and training to spot the warning signs of the disease during your oral cancer screening. They’ll do something we call a “visual and manual” screening in and around your mouth. They can see and feel if there’s something unusual that we need to further investigate.

Beyond that, North Michigan Avenue Dental Group is specially equipped with technology called the VELscope®. This FDA-approved screening gives our dentists an even more powerful advantage to detect oral cancer at its earliest stages. The VELscope® uses something called Fluorescence Visualization (FV) or a bright blue light that goes into your mouth which highlights the different precancerous and cancerous changes to your oral tissue. These lesions or bumps might not be visible to the naked eye, so the VELscope® is truly a lifesaver. VELscope® gives your dentist the ability to see what’s going on beneath the surface of your mouth and check that tissue is disease-free following oral cancer treatment.