It was a privilege to  be part of the Tour des Chutes last Saturday.  Approximately 1,000 riders from all ages biked in loving memory of a friend or family member who is a cancer survivor.  Whether it was 90, 70, 48, 25 or 7 miles – they all finished the race with a smile on their face!  And smiles are what Awbrey Dental cares about – but most importantly, how your smile and dental care relates to your general health.

Our participation for this event was to partner with the community to support this worthy cause with an emphasis on increasing awareness about oral cancer and surviving the disease through early detection.  1 person per hour, every hour of every day, dies of mouth, tongue or throat cancer because it has gone undetected until it reaches late stages.  If caught early, oral cancers have an 80 – 90% survival rate.  To date, the majority are diagnosed in late stages which accounts for the very high death rate of 45% within five years of detection.   Risk factors for this disease include the use of tobacco, alcohol and the newly identified rise in HPV-16 virus (human papilloma virus version 16).  For more information you can read more about this disease at www.oralcancerfoundation.org.

Our goal is to educate as many people as we can about early detection and getting an oral cancer screening exam.  It’s quick, painless and costs less than $20 with our state of the art VELscope machine.  Schedule yours today!

Awbrey Dental Group is proud to be a sponsor for the  Three Sisters Open Golf Tournament  to  be held June 26, 2010 – Aspen Lakes Golf Course  in Sisters, OR, and organized by Quota International of Central Oregon.  The event will be host to 144 women golfers with an objective to raise funds earmarked for 1) awarding scholarships to women who wish to further their education through Leadership Bend and 2) support community organizations and individuals with a focus on disadvantaged women/children and the hearing impaired.  In the past, funds raised have gone to support many community non-profit organizations as well as requests from individual families and children needing assistance and support.

Quota International is a service organization that links members of all ages, occupations and nationalities in a worldwide network of service and friendship.  They are headquartered in Washington DC with over 7,000 members in 15 countries. Quota has a long and wonderful history of assisting individuals and organizations in their respective community.  The Quota Club of Bend has been serving their community for 28 years with a focus on disadvantaged women and children, hearing and speech impairments and overall community service.  Members share their time, talents, resources and a desire to make the world a better place to live.

For more information please visit the www.quotaco.org – the Quota International of Central Oregon website