Van der Waal (2012) suggested that screening high-risk patients, such as those associated with heavy tobacco and alcohol use, might provide some benefit with early detection. In addition, van der Waal (2012) discussed the cause for delay in early detection of oral cancer is due to the diversity of common clinical presentations displayed in the mouths of patients. Consider, for example, a patient who comes in for their routine dental examination and has clinically displayed a white or red spot, or even a persistent ulcer, which is asymptomatic. Unfortunately, there is no way to differentiate between precancerous lesions from benign lesions, therefore, it is of the utmost importance to be suspicious of such common lesions because such delays, whether patient or doctor, can result in malignancy, as those presented in later stages.…show more content… Garg & Karjodkar (2012) presented two case reports where patients displayed lesions that appeared clinically harmless but turned out to be premalignant. Case 1 reported a 53-year-old male patient whose chief complaint consisted of pain on the floor of the mouth that lasted 2 months, but the lesion had persisted for 6 months prior to becoming symptomatic. The patient confirmed he had a 25-year history of tobacco use, more specifically betel quid. Upon oral examination of the patient, the doctor discovered a red lesion with irregular borders that has not responded to prior prescriptions of medications, such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and ointments (Garg & Karjodkar, 2012; Figure
