STORY: ORAL CANCER TEST

SCRIPT #531 SHOOT: 11/6/01 & 10/8/03

AIRDATE: Monday, Nov. 10, 2003

Daybreak and Midday

DHC MASTER #18 Timecode: 37:22 More than 28 thousand Americans

will be diagnosed with oral cancer

this year. Many of them will be

tobacco users and some of them

will be women.

Dr. Linda Niessen looks at how

dentists play a critical role in

diagnosing oral cancer at its most

curable stage. Here is today’s

SOVT: 1:42 Dental Health Check.

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WOMAN SMOKING (VOICE-OVER)

Oral cancer is no longer just a

WOMAN CANCER PATIENT man’s disease. One out of three

people diagnosed with oral cancer

is female. As more women smoke

and drink alcohol, they raise their

risk of developing the disease.

SUPER: Julia Reddersen :15-20 (“There was a little white spot, maybe

Oral Cancer Patient a quarter of an inch.”)

JULIE GETTING AN EXAM When detected early, oral cancer

can be treated easily. But in advanced

stages, overall survival rate falls to

50 percent or less.

SUPER: Dr. Janelle Moran-Kenny (“So we have to be more concerned

Dentist :32-37 about people who smoke and people

who use smokeless tobacco.”)

ORAL CDX A quick test detects oral cancer

early when it is most curable.

Oral CDX is a painless, brush biopsy

that many dentists now offer.

Dental patients with a suspicious

spot can get test results within a

few days.

DR. MORAN—KENNY (“We have a tiny brush and we scrape

that brush across the lesion and that’s absolutely all there is to it. We put those cells that we accumulate on a slide. We sent it into a lab and microscopically they evaluate those cells to see if there is a problem.”)

CANCER PATIENT EXAM The American Dental Association

is working to educate women and

men about the dangers of oral

CLOSE UP OF DENTIST cancer. Dentists play a critical

role in diagnosing the deadly

disease through routine oral

exams.

DR. MORAN-KENNY (“Dentists thoroughly checks the mouth,

the tongue, and all the tissues for any

lesions.”)

EARLY SPOTS OF CANCER If you see any white or red spots, bumps, or sores, they should be examined by a dentist as soon

as possible.

ON CAMERA (STAND-UP CLOSE)

SUPER: Dr. Linda Niessen More than a quarter of all oral

Baylor College of Dentistry cancer patients have no history

1:22-1:27 of tobacco or alcohol use.

so every patient needs yearly

oral cancer exams, and if a

suspicious spot appears, a brush biopsy

can be done easily and quickly.

For Baylor College of Dentistry,

Texas A&M System, I’m Dr. Linda

Niessen.

For viewer inquiries:

Dr. Moran-Kenny can be

reached at 214-368-6479.

She practices in north Dallas.