STORY: SMOKER ORAL HEALTH

SCRIPT #613 SHOOT: 7/13/05

AIRDATE: Monday, July 18, 2005

Daybreak and Midday

DHC Master #21 Timecode: 22:54 A person dies from oral cancer every

hour, every day in the U.S. alone.

Most victims have a history of tobacco

use. Now a quick, painless test detects

a malignant tumor before it spreads.

Dr. Linda Niessen has details in today's

sovt: 1:19 Dental Health Check.

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STEVE BEYER WALKS INTO OFFICE (VOICE-OVER)

SUPER: Dallas :02-07 Every day for most of his adult life, Steve Beyer has smoked a pack of cigarettes.

The habit caused symptoms he could not

ignore.

SUPER: Steve Beyer :11-16 ("There were parts that were actually

Ex-smoker tingling in my mouth from the smoking,

rough spots in my mouth.")

STEVE WITH DENTIST Steve's dentist, Dr. Jean Bainbridge,

supported his efforts to quit smoking

six weeks ago. Already, Dr. Bainbridge

can see improvement.

SUPER: Dr. Jean Bainbridge ("Patients that have stopped smoking,

Dentist we start to see tissue starting to revert

back to normal very rapidly.")

SMOKER CLOSE-UP Smokers are six times more likely to develop oral cancer; using spit tobacco

increases the risk by about 50 times.

SPIT TOBACCO

DR. BAINBRIDGE ("About 30-thousand Americans every

year develop oral cancer.")

BRUSH BIOPSY A simple test, called a brush biopsy,

can detect oral cancer in its early stages

before it spreads.

DR. BAINBRIDGE ("It's pain free, take that sample, send

it off and wait for the report.")

STEVE AT FRONT DOOR Steve got lucky. His biopsies have

been negative.

STEVE BEYER ("Plus I feel better frankly.")

ON CAMERA (STAND-UP CLOSE)

SUPER: Dr. Linda Niessen 1:09-1:14 If you smoke or use spit tobacco, enlist

Baylor College of Dentistry your dentist to help you quit. Your

oral health can improve dramatically and you will feel better too. For Baylor

College of Dentistry, Texas A&M System,

I'm Dr. Linda Niessen, Channel 8 News.

For more information:

www.oralcancerfoundation.org

www.cancer.gov

(Click on A-Z list of cancers, then

click on O for oral cancer.)

For information on brush biopsy: