Aloe vera for treatment of oral submucous fibrosis?

shutterstock_32414035 - Betel leaf

This review effectiveness of aloe vera on alleviating the symptoms of oral submucous fibrosis included 6 RCTs . The findings suggest a possible benefit but 5 of the trials were at high risk of bias so the findings should be viewed cautiously.

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Oral lichen planus: Rate of malignant transformation

Lichen_planusWickham's

This review of the malignant transformation rate (TR) of oral lichen planus included 21 observational studies the majority of which were retrospective. The overall estimate of TR was 1.4%.

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Oral potentially malignant disorders – how common are they?

Leukoplakia02-04-06

This review of the prevalence of oral potentially malignant disorders included 22 observational studies providing a pooled estimate for prevalence of 4.47% (95% CI;2.43-7.08).

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Potentially malignant disorders of the oral cavity: Evaluation guideline

By Aitor III (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This new clinical practice guideline from the American Dental Association (ADA) updates the 2010 guideline on “Evidence-based Clinical Recommendations Regarding Screening for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

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Oral potentially malignant disorders and impact on quality of life

leukoplakia

14 studies were included in this review of the impact of oral potentially malignant disorders of the quality of life. However, they were mainly focused on oral lichen planus, so they provide little evidence for the impact of the wide range of OPMDs on the quality of life.

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Oral leukoplakia: malignant transformation rate highly variable

herpetic ulcer on tongue

This review of the malignant transformation rate of oral leukoplakia included 24 studies, the majority of which were retrospective. The range of malignant transformation was between 0.13% and 34.0%. The quality of the available data was limited and there is a need for higher quality well-reported studies.

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Photodynamic therapy: review finds insufficient evidence of its effectiveness for oral premalignant lesions

iStock_000001604217XSmall dental laser

This review of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for oral premalignant lesions only identified a small number of poor quality studies that provide insufficient evidence for the effectiveness of PDT for the management of oral premalignant lesions.

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Oral cancer detection: Limited evidence for use of chemiluminescence and autofluorescent imaging devices in primary care

iStock_000001604217XSmall dental laser

Early detection of oral cancer improves prognosis so methods to improve diagnosis are welcome. The review we look at today looks at two light-based systems: chemiluminescence or autofluorescence. 25 studies were included and they are well summarised but few were tested in primary care. Neither system provided much improvement on the level of sensitivity and specificity achieved by conventional oral examination. Therefore it is suggested that these tools are better suited to specialist clinics in which there is a higher prevalence of disease and where experienced clinicians may better discriminate between benign and malignant lesions.

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Oral examination to detect potentially malignant disorders and mouth cancer

shutterstock_45382273

November is Mouth Cancer Awareness month here in the UK and around 6,500 cases are diagnosed a year. Mouth cancer is the 6th commonest cancer worldwide.  In India, Sir Lanka and Pakistan it is the most common cancer for men and is responsible for 30% of all new cancer cases. Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, betel [read the full story…]

Human papillomaviruses strongly associated with oral cancer

shutterstock_18549316- HPV virus

The role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the development of premalignant and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a hotly debated topic despite recognition of its role in cervical squamous cell carcinoma of uteri. The main aim of this systematic review was to calculate the pooled estimates of the odds ratio (OR) for the association [read the full story…]