Oral lesions detected during a population screening for prevention and early diagnosis of oral cancer and potentially malignant disorders

Objective: In this paper, we describe the results of an oral cancer prevention campaign for early detecting and diagnosing oral cancer and potentially malignant disorder. Subjects and method: The population screening was performed in one day in which population was recruited by local mass media communication means. Patients with suspicious lesions were referred for final diagnosis with a specialist in oral medicine andpathology. Results: Of 1.282 patients screened, 104 were referred for specialized care and 94 attended forfinal diagnosis. Of those, only one (1.06%) patient was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma and25 (26.5%) with oral potentially malignant disorders, while the diagnosis rates for benign conditions andnormality variations were, respectively, 78.7% and 32.9%. Conclusion: These results suggest low awarenessregarding oral cancer within this population, flaws in the knowledge regarding oral cancer by dentists, andthe need for improvements in the access to the at-risk population for oral cancer.