A CONTEMPORARY NON-INVASIVE METHOD FOR ASSESSING ORAL PRECANCEROUS LESIONS

Purpose: With the advance of the modern technologies, the identification of dysplastic changes in the oral mucosa on a molecular level seems to have transferred into the dental office. With the new methods, however, new responsibilities and problems arise. The current review is an attempt to present the advantages and disadvantages of the clinical technologies used for early diagnostics of the oral precancerous lesions. Materials and Methods: This study is based on an extensive literature review and personal clinical experience with these contemporary evaluating methods of oral precancerous lesions. Results: The results from the pathohistological evaluation reveal stratified squamous epithelium with pronounced parabasal hyperplasia, disturbed maturation and loss of polarity of the basal cells. The latter demonstrates hyperchromatic polymorphic nuclei and single mitotic figures in half of the epithelial thickness. The morphological data points to a moderate epithelial dysplasia. Conclusion: The loss of autofluorescence seems to be the most promising non-invasive method for identification of epithelial dysplasia in the oral cavity. The presence of some non-dysplastic lesions, which can also be non-fluorescent, i.e. produce “false negative” results, is one of the disadvantages of this method. Despite that most modern technologies are practical and convinient, they should be approached with a critical eye and should not be used as single and independent diagnostic means but only as an adjunct to the established classical methods of diagnostics.