[Oral cancer screening: what can the healthcare system do to reduce the burden of disease?] / Szájüregi daganatszurés: mit tehet az egészségügyi ellátórendszer a betegségteher mérsékléséért?

ABSTRACT

Due to its high incidence and mortality, oral cancer makes a group of diseases of public health importance. Oral screening is a simple three-step procedure the first step is questioning the patient about his/her smoking/drinking habits, secondly, visual inspection of the oral cavity, and finally, palpation of regional lymph nodes. If precancerous conditions or any form of oral cancer are suspected, the task is to send the examined person to oral clinical care. The examination can routinly be performed by dentists, but also by general practitioners and occupational health personnel. The difficulty of oral screening arises from the fact that most of the patients are of low socio-economic status. The organization of oral screening is the responsibility of the healthcare system personnel their task is to identify the high-risk persons and to direct them to the scene of the screening. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(38) 1497-1505.