This Cochrane review update was to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of index tests for the detection of oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders, in people presenting with clinically evident suspicious and innocuous lesions.
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This review of the evidence on the malignant transformation of oral proliferative verrucous leukoplakia included 17 mainly retrospective observational studies. The overall estimate for malignant transformation was 43.87% (95% CI; 31.93 to 56.13) but only 4 studies were at low risk of bias.
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It is now 10 years since the very first Dental Elf Blog. Since then we have published 1626 blogs covering a wide range of topics so we present a brief overview of the categories covered.
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This review of the the prevalence, types and distribution of malignant oral lesions in children and adolescents included 43 retrospective studies reporting on 64,522 biopsies. The findings indicate an overall prevlence of 1.93% (95%CI; 1.21 to 2.80.
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Manas Dave looks at a review of the diagnostic accuracy of blood and salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) in discriminating oral squamous cell carcinoma. The review included 20 cross-sectional studies and suggested moderate diagnostic accuracy and higlights a potential are for larger scale studies.
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This review of whether the incidence of osteoradionecrosis differed between patients who have dental extractions before or after radiotherapy (RT) included 24 studies (19 retrospective 5 prospective). While the findings suggest that the incidence is similar if extractions are undertaken before or after RT the quality of the evidence is limited.
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This review of the links between the habit of betel quid and areca nut (BQ-AN) chewing and the prognosis of oral cancer included 11 observational studies. The findings suggest that lower 5-year survival is seen in those with a BQ-AN chewing habit.
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In his first blog for the Dental Elf Rajpal Tattar take a look at a review of the diagnostic accuracy of salivary biomarkers for the detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The review considers two biomarkers, cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) and for matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) but there is no conclusive evidence for either at present.
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Manas Dave looks at a recent review of which considers the efficacy of optical fluorescence imaging as an adjunct to clinical oral examination for the detection of oral mucosal lesions. The review includes 27 studies and provides evidence to support additional high quality studies to assess its effectiveness.
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This review comparing primary care doctors and dentists in the referral of oral cancer included 22 mainly retrospective studies. Doctors refered sliightly more than dentists, typically 50% compared with 40% respectively.
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