A recent study investigated the improvement in the early detection of oral cancer due to the integration of telemedicine with opportunistic screenings by primary care dentists in Córdoba, Argentina. Oral cancer is an important health problem, and its early diagnosis is critical for improving the prognosis and survival rate. However, there is a lack of specialists in so many regions due to poor facilities, and a resultant delay was noted in so many regions regarding diagnosis. Thus, the researchers used telemedicine to bridge that gap between them and specialized services. In that way, in a region like this, community dentists for primary care should be trained and sensitized toward identifying suspicious lesions during dental health checkups (2018 – 2023). These dentists undertook opportunistic screening: that is, the patients to be examined visited for routine dental check ups without symptoms of poor oral health. In the event of a detected suspicious lesion, images and data of the patients were sent through telemedicine to specialists for faraway consultations. Quick expert consults were hence realized without needing to travel to specialist clinics far away.
The results of this study showed that the integration of telemedicine in practice significantly shortened the time taken for diagnosis. Most patients reached a definitive diagnosis within two weeks, which is quite an improvement compared to the conventional diagnostic pathway. Through the use of digital communication, the primary care providers could collaborate much more efficiently with specialists to expedite the process of referring those patients with suspected oral cancer for further testing and treatment.
This study clearly shows that this is the combined effect of telemedicine with the routine dental screen for early diagnosis of oral cancers. The conclusions from such studies suggest that training of general dentists about early signs for the disease supported by remote consultation by specialists will be cost-effective and easily replicable, particularly in regions suffering from a deficiency of oncologists and oral pathology specialists.
Full text: Gerardo Gilligan, René Panico, María Fernanda Galindez Costa, Jerónimo Lazos, Juan Cruz Romero Panico, Eduardo Piemonte, Integrative strategies combining telemedicine and opportunistic screening to reduce diagnostic delays in oral cancer: a 4-year-retrospective study, Exploration of Digital Health Technologies, 2025, 3:101136, https://doi.org/10.37349/edht.2025.101136.