Ankara- A team of Turkish researchers have innovated a new toothbrush to combat oral cancer that provides an early and accurate sound detection.

Oral cancer can grow in all the mouth’s tissues, but the most common type of cancer appears in the lined tissues of the lips, tongue, gums, cheeks, and the palate. Mouth cancers usually spread swiftly, and expose the patient to major threats.

Dr. Pellin Jonry from the Ege University in İzmir said that the “the biopsy toothbrush” has been commonly used to diagnose this tumor. It works on collecting samples from the mouth to make the required tests. She added that the Turkish team has detected major gaps in the old toothbrushes concerning the diagnosis process.

Jonry revealed that old toothbrushes cannot extract samples from the mouth’s deep layers, and that the samples they extract have no scientific value as they can be easily destroyed.

Commenting on the new “biopsy toothbrush”, the doctor said that medicine needed a fast, easy, and reliable tool able to extract samples from the intact layers and to protect their diagnostic characteristics.

According to the Turkish professor, a team of academics used a sample studied and tested over the course of two years, and compared it with the sample extracted with “the biopsy toothbrush”; they found that the second sample was more accurate and reliable.

Jonry revealed that they started to use the innovated toothbrush in some clinics and that they are planning to launch a continuous production line of this tool soon.

As per the characteristics of the innovation, the professor said that unlike the traditional toothbrush, the biopsy toothbrush is capable to reach deep areas in the mouth cavity, as the user can control its height and move it in convenience with the Mucosa.

This toothbrush provides a sample with few damages along with samples from the inferior layer of the mouth tissue.

According to Jonry, the new toothbrush is affordable, swift, and reliable. it helps the doctor in reaching an early diagnosis and in tracking late diagnosis of the patient. Finally, she confirmed that the research team that came out with this toothbrush has received a patent for its innovation.

Jonry said that oral cancer is among the widely spread types of cancers, as 300,000 cases are annually diagnosed.

Smoking and alcohol consumption are among the major causes of oral cancer, which often appears in men after the age of 60. However, recent studies showed that the tumor also grew among men and women in their late thirties. Dr. Jonry said that people suffering from this cancer often die within five years after diagnosis, but noted that patients feel pain in later stages.

As per symptoms, she said that patients can suffer from difficulties in swallowing, voice changes, swelling, and teeth movement.