According to data revealed by the Dental Association (OMD) in the European Day eve of Oral Health, the 4,341 checks issued between March 2014 and June 30 this year were used less than one-third, or 1,315 checks for cancer diagnosis oral. In its initial phase there were some problems with the computer system that makes the issue of checks, said the agency Lusa Pedro Trancoso, the direction of the Dental Association, assuming that the number of checks actually used by users go starting to increase.
The goal of Early Intervention Project Oral Cancer would reach about five thousand annual biopsies and, therefore, it is necessary to increase the checks issued by family doctors, and especially that patients use the network adhering dental checks that they are passed. Despite a reduced rate of effective use of checks for diagnosis of mouth cancer, Pedro Trancoso stresses that the checks execution rate for biopsy is very high, around 90%, which means that suspected cases are being properly directed and monitored.
Of the total diagnostic checks used almost half advanced to biopsy. The 585 carried out under this program allowed to detect 24 cancers and 17 lesions with malignant transformation potential. Pedro Trancoso recalls that 24 cases of detected cancer refer only to early intervention project, with in Portugal many more cases several diagnosed belatedly, which contributes to the mortality rate is less than 50% five years. If the diagnosis is made of early, survival rates can exceed 80%, says the head of the Dental Association.
Arguing that it is essential to increase the use of checks issued by family doctors, the Order believes it is necessary to know the warning signs of oral cancer: wounds that do not heal within two weeks, unexplained volume increases, loss of sensitivity or mobility language.
Arguing that it is essential to increase the use of checks issued by family doctors, the Order believes it is necessary to know the warning signs of oral cancer: wounds that do not heal within two weeks, unexplained volume increases, loss of sensitivity or mobility language.
