VELscope screening in Toronto
Do you know what VELscope is?
VELscope uses a special blue light to help your dentist visualize changes in the soft tissues of your mouth. The examination is quick, non-invasive, and complements your regular oral examination.
Same mouth. Different light.
On the left, a tongue under ordinary light. Drag across to see the same mouth through VELscope. Healthy tissue gives off a natural green glow; tissue that has changed looks darker against it.
A dark area isn't a diagnosis. Inflammation, irritation and small injuries show up too, which is why the next step is usually a second look, not a worry.
A light, a lens, and a closer look.
VELscope cannot diagnose or rule out cancer. However, by highlighting tissue changes, including those caused by inflammation or injury, it can draw our attention to areas that may need a closer look and further clinical assessment.
A ring of blue light makes the soft tissues of the mouth fluoresce.
Your dentist looks through the lens, which shows the glow and the dark spots in it.
It stays a few inches from your mouth. Nothing touches you.
Five-year relative survival for oral cavity and throat cancers diagnosed before they spread.
Only about a quarter are found at that stage. That's why we look at the soft tissues at every exam, and why VELscope is there to help us spot what the eye alone might pass over.
U.S. National Cancer Institute SEER data, 2015–2021.
How it runs
We ask about your health, medications and habits that affect the soft tissues.
Head, neck and every surface inside the mouth, under normal light.
You put on tinted glasses and we look through the handpiece at the blue-lit tissue.
Usually nothing. If an area looks different, we recheck it, typically in about two weeks, or refer you.
Worth asking
Anything else, ask us. VELscope is part of our oral cancer screening at every exam.
Does it hurt?
No. Nothing touches you but a light. You wear tinted glasses to protect your eyes from it.
If an area looks dark, do I have cancer?
Very unlikely. Inflammation, irritation and injury all change how tissue looks under the light. We usually recheck the area in about two weeks to see whether it has settled.
Can VELscope diagnose cancer?
No. It helps us decide where to look more closely. Only a biopsy, taken and read by a specialist, can diagnose oral cancer.
Is it right for everyone?
Almost everyone. If you're sensitive to light, or take a medication that makes you sensitive to it, tell us before the exam.
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