ROSE BENGAL STAIN AS A DIAGNOSTIC AID IN DETECTING ORAL POTENTIALLY MALIGNANT LESIONS AMONG TOBACCO CHEWERS - A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY.

Background: Oral cancer is a major public health problem in India usually preceded by precancerous lesions. Among all diagnostic aids, vital staining is simple, inexpensive and sensitive tool for identifying epithelial dysplasia and can be used for screening. Hence in the present study an attempt was made to evaluate efficacy of RB stain in early detection of oral potentially malignant among tobacco chewers and correlate the intensity of Rose Bengal stain with the degree of dysplasia. Objectives: To determine histopathological changes in biopsy specimens taken from tobacco chewers with positive and negative stain. To correlate intensity of the stain clinically with histopathological features taken from tobacco chewers. Methodology: The study comprised of 105 subjects with tobacco chewing habit for more than a year. RB stain was applied in the area of tobacco placement. Based on areas of highest uptake of stain, incisional biopsy was done. The intensity of uptake of stain was compared with the histological findings. Statistical analysis: One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was applied. Results: RB stain was taken up in all tobacco chewers with or without lesions. Sensitivity was 93.33% Conclusion: RB stain is simple, cost- effective, non- allergic and is not taken up by inflammatory cells unlike Toluidine Blue stain. Sensitivity of RB staining method was found to be higher when compared with Toluidine Blue staining. Thus RB stain can be used as a diagnostic test in screening of potentially malignant lesions.