Beyond the Visible: Early Detection of Oral Cancer from the Dental Chair to the Algorithm: A Narrative Review
Abstract: Background: The mouth is one of the most obvious cancer sites to check and the clinician can see directly the cancer, but oral cancer is still too often found late, when treatment is more complex and survival poorer. The delay in recognition and referral, poor access to trained examiners and the silent early behaviour of precursor lesions all contribute. Objective: To assess current and emerging strategies for the early detection of oral cancer from oral examination to artificial intelligence and to be clear about what the evidence does and does not support. Approach: Narrative synthesis of recent guidelines, systematic and scoping reviews, a landmark randomised screening trial, and selected primary studies. Findings: Systematic visual examination is still the only approach with randomised evidence of a mortality benefit, and it was found to be greater in tobacco or alcohol smokers. Adjunctive devices, such as vital staining, light-based aids and cytology can help to prioritize lesions, but can't replace biopsy and there's not been any evidence that they have been recommended or applied in a routine way for screening. Salivary biomarkers, liquid biopsy, biosensors and image-based artificial intelligence are all scientifically fascinating and sometimes very accurate, but most evidence comes from small, single-centre studies that don't have external validation. Conclusions: Early detection will be based less on any one gadget than on a risk-aware approach: a thorough assessment for every adult, targeted screening of high-risk groups, structured surveillance of potentially malignant disorders, timely biopsy of suspicious lesions and well-validated decision-support tools that will be used to enable wider access rather than to replace clinical judgement.
Keywords: oral cancer; oral squamous cell carcinoma; early detection; oral potentially malignant disorders; screening; saliva biomarkers; artificial intelligence
How to Cite?: Dr. Seema Yoganna, "Beyond the Visible: Early Detection of Oral Cancer from the Dental Chair to the Algorithm: A Narrative Review", Volume 15 Issue 10, October 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 201-205, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR261002113321, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR261002113321