The use of clinical guidelines for referral of patients with lesions suspicious for oral cancer may ease early diagnosis and improve education of healthcare professionals

UNLABELLED Early diagnosis and referral of oral cancer is essential. Successful implementation of clinical guidelines must include current practitioners and students. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of students at oral cancer screening and to assess the effectiveness of clinical referral guidelines. STUDY DESIGN Fifth year dental students were randomly allocated to either control (n=19) or experimental groups (n = 18). Both received the customary training in oral diagnosis. The experimental group underwent a 2 hour workshop where the guidelines for the referral of suspicious lesions were discussed. Three months later, a set of 51 clinical cases including benign, malignant, and…