The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in elderly
population is 22.8% to 61.6%. Conventional oral
examination (COE) is usually carried out to detect oral
mucosal lesions (OML). However, new diagnostic aids
have been introduced to improve OML detection. This
study aimed to determine the utility of autofluorescence
(AF) imaging in detecting OML from normal oral mucosa
and its anatomic variation among institutionalised elderly
Malaysian when compared with COE. Fifty subjects
randomly selected from 9 nursing homes and COE and AF
imaging using VELscope Vx, (LED Dental, Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada) were carried out. Sensitivity,
specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value
(NPV) and accuracy of AF imaging were calculated.
From the study, fifteen subjects had normal oral mucosa,
15 anatomic variations and 36 lesions were identified.
The sensitivity and specificity of AF imaging were 100%
and 70% whereas the PPV and NPV were 80% and 100%
respectively. The accuracy of AF imaging was 86.37%
when compared to COE. In conclusion AF imaging was
able to detect OML and differentiate them from normal
oral mucosa. However it has limited usefulness in
differentiating between these lesions. This study however,
was able to detail the AF imaging profile of normal oral
mucosa, its normal variants and some common reactive or
infective lesions which can be used in future OML studies
as comparison to oral potentially malignant lesions.