As Seen in the Chicago Tribune

The VelScope is for Olympians!! and You !!
Athletes taking a bite out of dentists' workdays
IOC mandates oral care, including cancer screening, for 20% of all competitors

Dr. Chris Zed is associate dean of dentistry at UBC, is head of dental services for Olympic athletes, along with Dr. Mark Parhar.

Vancouver Sun

Dentists will be among the busiest health professionals during the Olympics, and it's not just smashed-up teeth and mouths they'll be fixing.

They'll also be practising preventive dental care through gentle coercion.

With a new International Olympic Committee (IOC) mandate that 20 per cent of athletes -- up from 10 per cent -- receive a comprehensive examination, including a screen for oral cancer using a B.C.-developed device making its Olympics debut, the 72 dentists and their volunteer assistants anticipate about 800 athletes will sit in their dental chairs for treatment. They'll be doing everything from minor or routine dental care to trauma surgery.

"After physiotherapy or general medicine, we expect to be the busiest because of the demand and the 20-per-cent mandate from the IOC," said Dr. Chris Zed, associate dean of dentistry at the University of B.C., who is head of dental services for the 2010 Games, along with Dr. Mark Parhar.

Based on previous Winter Games, dentists can expect about 100 trauma cases involving possible damage to teeth, lips, cheeks and tongues and broken bones. Of those, up to 20 cases might require surgery under general anesthetic after being transferred to Vancouver General Hospital.

Athletes who wear mouth guards have a lower risk of concussions and serious oral injuries, Zed said, so dentists at the Games will be trying to coax more athletes into using such devices. They will also provide general hygiene information.

Mouth guards are proven to minimize damage to teeth from accidents and impact and reduce the effects of concussions. A local firm -- Aurum Dental Labs -- will have technicians on hand at each of the dental centres in the Whistler and Vancouver polyclinics to take impressions for moulds on the spot and then create customized guards for the Olympians.

Zed said he agrees it seems shocking that all athletes don't wear mouth guards.

"I don't think I can pinpoint why that is, but they train so hard and are focused on doing things a certain way and they don't want to all of a sudden do something that might throw them off. But mouth guards should really be seen as an extension of the helmets, pads and other protective equipment that is worn, especially in hockey. A big part is awareness and that's one of our roles."

His associate, Parhar, is the team dentist for the Vancouver Giants and is passionate about the benefits of mouth guards.

Once athletes are in the dental chairs, they will also receive education about the importance of wearing sunscreen to prevent oral cancers. Alpine sports athletes who train year-round at high elevations are especially prone to damaging ultraviolet rays, raising the risk of developing skin and lip cancers. The problem is compounded by the additional reflection of ultraviolet radiation off the snow and ice. Zed points to a German study that showed outdoor athletes seem unaware of the elevated cancer risks associated with their training.

"Year-round, the alpine athletes follow winter around the world to train and they are at higher risk of lip and mouth cancers because of the altitude and sun exposure," he said. "The skin on the lips is thin and poorly protected. The damage is cumulative and you have to consider they are exposed to these intense ultraviolet rays for up to 30 years, through their training and post-competitive coaching years in many cases."

Some athletes in Nordic events chew tobacco. It contains numerous carcinogens that can cause oral cancers, so dentists will screen them for precancerous lesions using the VELscope, a device developed by the BC Cancer Agency that emits a blue light inside the mouth to help detect suspicious tissue that needs further investigation.

"It's a terrific adjunctive visual tool being integrated more and more into general dentistry practices," Zed said.

The value of dental services and equipment for the Games is estimated to be worth about a million dollars, but Zed said almost the entire amount is covered by in-kind donations. The firm 3M ESPE is providing a large array of dental supplies; the dental chairs have been donated by a local company, Sinclair Dental. At least one of the four chairs will become a legacy item, taking up a permanent home at the University of B.C. ice arena after the Games.

Dr. Jack Taunton, the co-chief medical officer of the Games, said athletes are so nomadic they tend to defer dental care, so he's hoping many of them take advantage of the superior care they can get while in Vancouver and Whistler.

Although it was originally planned that UBC dental students would be involved in the delivery of care, Taunton said issues over liability and malpractice insurance arose and the IOC said the Olympics weren't conducive to teaching.