Oral Cancer Screening Knowledge of Sri Lankan Dentists

Oro-pharyngeal cancers are the most common type of cancer in Sri Lanka and accounts for 14.4% of all cancers. With an age-standardized incidence rate of 15.4/100,000 it is ranked first among all cancers in males and in females with an age-standardized incidence rate of 4.5/100,000 it is ranked fourth (Cancer Registry, 2002). Though the oral cavity is accessible to visual examination to patients and health care workers, it is most unfortunate that many of these lesions are not detected at the early stages but only at an advanced stage when prognosis is likely to be poor. Oral cancer is largely preventable by avoiding and controlling risk factors such as use of tobacco and consumption of alcohol (Cancer Research Campaign, 2000). Moreover, about 90% of small lesions of oral cancer are clinically detectable as asymptomatic red/white lesions and many small lesions are slow growing. Hence attention has been drawn to the possibility of population screening as a preventive strategy for oral cancer (Speight and Morgan, 1993). Population based oral cancer screening programmes have been conducted in many countries including Sri