Abstract
To reduce the mortality rate due to oral cancer, early detection and treatment is extremely important. The Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tokyo Dental College, started oral cancer screening in cooperation with a local dental association in 1992. Mass screening of 13,265 subjects was performed between 1992 and 2013, and 11 cases of early oral cancer were detected （0.14%）. These achievements proved the effectiveness of screening. On the other hand, a dental association in Chiba city started opportunistic screening for oral cancer in 2006, and detected six cases of early oral cancer among 3,374 examined subjects （0.18%）. Opportunistic screening for oral cancer was more efficient to detect oral cancer than mass screening. Therefore, we consider that opportunistic screening including cytology, by general dentists at dental clinics, is particularly useful for early detection of oral cancer. Our strategy to improve the detection of early oral cancer is to establish a new screening system involving minimally invasive techniques such as fluorescence visualization and utilization of an IT network between dental clinics and hospitals with highly specialized oral and maxillofacial surgeons. We hope to help reduce the mortality rate due to oral cancer among Japanese citizens with this oral cancer screening system, and strongly recommend active collaboration between the government, companies, and academia in Japan for developing the system.
