Key Points
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Introduces the current knowledge on chairside diagnostic adjuncts available for oral cancer/precancer detection.
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Provides the proposed uses of available diagnostic adjuncts to the dental practitioner.
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Uses illustrations to provide a guide to their use.
Abstract
A variety of devices and techniques are now available to aid the clinician in visualising clinical changes that may be found in the oral cavity. These techniques can now be applied at chairside to characterise these changes and many offer a real time result at the point of care. They may assist in a practitioner referring a case earlier to a specialist to undertake further investigations. The translational value of the research published so far has been limited as these technologies have not been adapted for routine use in primary care. This review aims to examine the utility of these adjunctive aids in clinical practice based on the current available evidence.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Dr Ann Gillenwater at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Centre for providing Figure 2 for my use. I also wish to thank Drs Kamran Awan and Helen McParland for assisting me in clinical research studies in testing these devices or agents.
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Warnakulasuriya, S. Diagnostic adjuncts on oral cancer and precancer: an update for practitioners. Br Dent J 223, 663–666 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.883
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.883
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