Business"' QaVMwe Dr. B h a n d a ri te l ls th e im p o r ta n c e o f o ra l c a n c e r t e s t in g This year, more than 4,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with oral cancer, and more than 1,000 will die from it. It is more prevalent in men than women and more so in African- Americans than Caucasians. To detect and diagnose oral cancer as quickly as possible, dentists are starting to offer oral cancer testing in their offices, one dentist offering this testing, is Dr. Vineet Bhandari. The most common form of oral cancer is Squamous Cell Carcinoma. It is found mostly on the middle 1/3 of the tongue, on the lateral border. It will appear as a reddish, raised lesion with a white border and sometimes ulcerated. The symptoms or oral cancer include difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, swollen lymph nodes, gingival bleeding, sores that don't heal, and persistent pain. "If oral cancer is detected at an early stage, the survival rate is about 92 per cent," said Dr. Bhandari, owner of Dr. Bhandari Family Dentistry. "However if it is detected at a later stage, the survival rate plummets to about 37 per cent." It very much depends on the size of the lesion and if lymph nodes are involved. Dentists are trained to detect oral cancers, and differentiate it between what might be a normal canker sore or sore throat, from mouth, throat and tongue cancer. "We know where to look, we check the lips, the tongue, the palate, and the cheek. There's now an advanced screening device that uses blue wave spectrum technology," Dr. Bhandari explained. The device, called the VELscope Vx Enhanced Oral Assessment System, shines a blue wave light into a patient's mouth. If the area is healthy it appears green, abnormal areas appear dark, or black. "This can mean two things, either there is inflammation, say if they bit their cheek, or it means there is an abnormality present," said Dr. Bhandari. The device will pick up dysplastic cells (a very early form of pre-cancer), precancerous cells, and cancerous cells before it is visible to the naked eye. After abnormalities have been detected, the VELscope takes a photo and the dentist will email the photo and make an appointment with a specialist who will confirm the diagnosis. Another important service Dr. Bhandari's office provides is laser dentistry. "If you have a cavity near the gum line, using a drill to cut out the decay will definitely touch the gums and cause them to bleed, and be sore," said Dr. Bhandari. "By using a laser, we remove the gum tissue and can access the decay, do the restorative work, and then the gum tissue will grow back afterwards." He explained that procedures like root canals, extractions, treating canker and cold sores when done with a laser, cause minimal pain and discomfort because the laser naturally sterilizes and enhances healing in the area it has been used. It also helps reduce swelling. This helps to achieve Dr. Bhandari's goal, which is to make each procedure as high quality, and pain-free as possible. Dr. Bhandari Family Dentistry offers a number of other services such as treating kids and families, extractions, crowns, bridges, implants, composite white fillings, endodontic and periodontal treatment, routine cleanings, and more. Dr. Bhandari has been at his current office, since December 2015, but he and his team have been providing dental care to patients in Hamilton, Ayr, Oakville, and the surrounding areas since 1984. His office is located at 2525 Old Bronte Rd. suite 470 in Oakville. For more information, call 905-825-5110, email info@bhandaridental.com, or visit www. bhandaridental.com. E n g e l & V o lk e rs o p e n s n e w s h o p in O a k v ille From left to right: Richard Rutkowski, Jo-Anne Copland and Scott Russell, license partners of the newly established Engel and Volkers Oakville. Engel & Volkers announced its newest shop in Oakville, expanding the com pany's global network and premium level of service in Canada. Newly established Engel & Volkers Oakville, is led by license partners Scott Russell, Jo-Anne Copeland, and Richard Rutkowski. The brokerage will provide leading real estate services to homebuyers and se llers in the m arkets of Oakville, M ississauga, Milton, Burlington and Hamilton. As part of the Oakville community for more than 20 years, Russell and Copeland open the new shop with an esteem ed local reputation, having already established several business ventures and leading successful charitable in itiatives. Rutkowski com pletes the shop's leadership team, having already been part of the Engel & Volkers network since 2015 as a real estate advisor in Toronto and Los Cabos, Mexico. "As soon as we were introduced to Engel & Volkers, we saw som ething special that would greatly benefit our m arketplace and knew we wanted to be part of it," said Russell. "We chose Engel & Volkers because of its high-level approach to service, collaborative global network and its ability to meet the growing demands of luxury buyers and se llers here and abroad-- all deliverables that today's Oakville com munity needs." With its im pressive heritage homes and central location between Toronto, Niagara Falls and Toronto Pearson International Airport, Oakville is a prime real estate destination in the GTA. Buyers are attracted to Oakville because of its top ranked private schools, waterfront properties, Lake Ontario marinas and hiking tra ils. The real estate market in Oakville com prises m ostly detached homes and town houses. " Engel & Volkers Oakville is a valuable addition to our North American network of shops," said Anthony Hitt, president & CEO of Engel & Volkers Am ericas. "The team 's passion and expertise of the local marketplace coupled with Engel & Volkers' renowned level of com petence and international platform will best cater to the com prehensive needs of Oakville 's real estate buyers and se lle rs ." Engel & Volkers operates a global network of over 10,000 real estate advisors in more than 30 countries. Engel & Volkers Oakville is located at 226 Lakeshore Rd. E. For more information, v is it oakville. evcanada.com . 8| O akville B eaver | Thursday, January 25, 2018 insidehalton.com mailto:info@bhandaridental.com