Vizilite is a technology designed to help show whether you have early oral cancer or a pre-cancerous lesion. Dentists who want to use this technology purchase the light and packets of the company’s patented dye. Then patients are charged a fee for this special examination.
There has been some controversy in the profession about the Vizilite system. In 2004, the company applied for the Seal of Acceptance of the American Dental Association. Their studies were reviewed, and the application was denied. While the ADA recognized that this technology had been successful in helping identify cancer of the uterus, the tissue in the mouth is biologically quite different from the tissue lining the uterus, and the Vizilite company was unable to provide data confirming that these techniques provided a help to diagnosis of oral cancer. The Council of the American Dental Association that reviewed their data was unanimous in denying their application.
Theoretically, the special Vizilite light will be absorbed by normal tissue (left), but will cause abnormal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous lesions to appear white (center and right).
A study at Virginia Commonwealth University cast further doubt on its effectiveness by maintaining that in a controlled clinical study, the use of Vizilite provided no benefit in the attempted diagnosis of oral cancer. They maintained that the reflections caused by the light made it more difficult to visualize lesions.
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