The importance of early diagnosis and self-examination in oral cancer: a systematic review

Introduction: The impact of oral cancer (OC) on patients, their families, and the community is high, with severe morbidity and mortality. The most common types are squamous cell, squamous cell, and squamous cell carcinoma, which correspond to 90% to 95%. oforal cancer cases. Objective: To discuss through a systematic review the profile of patients diagnosed and susceptible to oral cancer, as well as to present the main results of clinical studies in the context of prevention, early diagnosis, and self-examination. Methods: A total of 35 studies were submitted for eligibility analysis and then 20 studies were selected following the PRISMA systematic review rules. The search strategy was performed at PubMed, Embase, Ovid and Cochrane libraries, Web of Science, ScienceDirect Journal (Elsevier), Scopus (Elsevier), OneFile (Gale). Major considerations: It can be concluded that oral self-examination was more prevalent among the elderly who did not have consequent impacts of oral disorders, possibly because the elderly who positively perceive their oral health condition actually presents a good oral health condition by adopting preventive measures. , among them the oral self-examination. However, it is known that self-perception of oral health, one of the components of quality of life, refers to a subjective experience of the individual about their functional, social and psychological well-being. It may be that the positive self-perception of oral health conditions among the elderly with negative health conditions is a consequence of the resignation and or conformation of these elderly with aging.