Oral diseases diagnosis rate during an oral cancer prevention campaign in Fernandópolis, Brazil, 2014

Oral cancer is a worrying disease which claims for actions aiming its early diagnosis and prevention. Objective: To describe lesions diagnosed during oral cancer prevention campaign performed in the city of Fernandopolis, Brazil, in 2014. Material and methods: Patients who attended for the basic health units of the city of Fernandopolis on the day of the campaign were examined by a previously trained dentist who searched for oral lesions suggestive for oral squamous cell carcinoma or potentially malignant lesions. Patients with suspicious lesions were scheduled for re-evaluation by an expert in oral diseases for obtaining the right diagnosis of the lesions. Results: 1,003 patients were examined during the campaign. Among them, 94 presented oral lesions, although, only 54 attended for re-evaluation and adequate diagnosis conduct by the dentist expert in oral diseases. Of the re-evaluated patients, 42 (77.77%) were diagnosed with oral benign lesions, whereas 13 (24.07%) were diagnosed with normal oral variation and only 1 (0.09%) was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Low oral malignant lesions diagnosis rates found on this campaign might be due to lack of methodology, which needs to be improved aiming to reach patients in real risk groups for oral cancer development. Furthermore, based on the rated of benign lesions and normal oral variations, dentists need more continued education regarding oral cancer for clinically detect oral malignant lesions and instruct patients regarding this malignancy.