'Special Smiles' Program at Special Olympics Screens Athletes for Oral Cancer

HOUSTON - Sept. 11, 2017 - PRLog -- Not every smile is the same; however, they all deserve the same quality care. Volunteers at the 2017 Special Olympics Provincial Summer Games in Mississauga, Canada used the OralID™ device to screen their athletes, knowing that oral cancer has no exceptions. The 2017 Special Olympics Provincial Summer Games were held on Friday, July 13, 2017. All athletes competing had the opportunity to receive free oral cancer screenings from the 'Special Smiles' discipline of the Healthy Athletes' program, a powerful public health organization worldwide.

'Special Smiles' is responsible for improving access to dental care for people with special abilities. At the Special Olympic games, the team screened with the OralID™ device to make sure that as many participants as possible were receiving the preventive care they needed. With 1,500 athletes competing in the games, around 40 hygienists and dentists performed screenings on a population whose oral health habits may not be practiced every day. Volunteers wanted to examine as much of the patients' tissue as possible.

"It's really enlightening as a practitioner. Many of these athletes have behavioral and cognitive understanding issues, so it is very challenging, but they are very optimistic and pleasant to be around." said Hamid John, the clinical director of the 'Special Smiles' team. "We were trying to look at as much tissue as possible with OralID™, ensuring quality care for the athletes."

Located in the most highly trafficked area of the Special Olympics, the oral health team also gave out tooth paste, tooth brushes, mouth guards, fluoride varnishes and other hygiene products in addition to giving instruction on proper ways to floss and brush. 'Healthy Athletes' and 'Special Smiles' are dedicated to changing the way health systems interact with people who have intellectual disabilities. The more educated and aware everyone becomes about oral health, the better the chances become of decreasing their risk factors for oral cancer.

"This is what it is all about" adds Robert J. Whitman, C.E.O. of Forward Science. "Our goal, when creating OralID™, was to be able to offer the life-changing technology into an easy to use and portable device, along with having the ability to screen patients around the world! We are happy to be able to partner with organizations, like the Special Olympics, and hope to continue to do so for many years to come!"

About Forward Science

Forward Science is a privately held biotechnology company based in Houston, Texas. OralID, Forward Science's flagship product, is an award winning oral cancer screening device that allows clinicians to discover abnormalities that may not be seen under traditional white light examinations. With the success of OralID, Forward Science continued its focus to advance healthcare in oral oncology and launched advanced diagnostic tests (CytID, hpvID, phID, PathID) and treatment options (SalivaMAX, SalivaCAINE). All Forward Science products are designed, developed, and manufactured by their team in-house, ensuring the highest quality of product to go along with their superior customer service. Forward Science has quickly evolved into the industry leader for oral oncology.

To learn more about OralID, or any of Forward Science's products, please visit http://www.forwardscience.com or call 855-696-7254.

About Special Olympics

The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round training and competition for children and adults living with intellectual disabilities. This gives them continuing opportunities to improve their health with physical fitness, skills, friendship with their families and other Special Olympics athletes. Through various sports the Special Olympics serve those living with intellectual and developmental disabilities to improve their health, skills, and abilities to contribute to their success.

To learn more about the Special Olympics, please visit http://www.specialolympics.org/