Assessment of Toluidine Blue in Oral Leukoplakia

Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common cancer of the oral cavity and the prognosis of the tumor depends on the early detection of the carcinoma. Toluidine blue is a metachromatic die of the thiazine group that has been effectively used as a nuclear stain because of its binding capacity with DNA. The objective of the study was to find the specificity and sensitivity of the toluidine blue supra vital staining technique in oral leukoplakia. The study comprised of 17 clinically suspicious cases of oral leukoplakia. The effect of toluidine blue staining and histopathological features were also studied. The toluidine blue staining is a sensitive vital staining method for leukoplakia. It is the useful chair side diagnostic test with the sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 100%.   KEYWORDS:  Oral Leukoplakia, toluidine blu