Editor’s note
The ADA-sponsored oral cancer awareness campaign, which has carried its message to 11 major cities since September, will conclude in Atlanta this month. The campaign has centered on two major goals: to boost awareness of oral cancer as a deadly disease that claims the lives of 8,000 Americans each year; and to encourage patients to see a dentist to have themselves screened. Although it is indeed funded by OralScan Laboratories Inc., which markets the computer-assisted oral brush biopsy system OralCDx, the campaign is not about the merits of brush biopsy vs. scalpel biopsy—a topic that can be reasonably and vigorously debated, as Dr. Potter and colleagues suggest. An article that appeared on page 1 of the Jan. 21 ADA News notes that the campaign has been well-received by dental patients, and that it is achieving its important, though limited goals. The story includes an interview with a 27-year-old cancer victim who believes the campaign may have saved his life. As we see it, a campaign that preserves even one life has value.
