Use of colposcopy for diagnosing oral mucosal lesions: An illusion or a realistic possibility?

As oral physicians, we come across many oral mucosal lesions that usually require a supplementary biopsy with histopathologic examination to establish a definite diagnosis. The selection of the site for biopsy is the most important criteria to arrive at a correct diagnosis. As biopsy site is a subjective choice, it is possible that the biopsy specimens are taken from unrepresentative areas of the lesion. At present, though there are simple chair side methods to aid the diagnosis of such changes, there is a high risk of false positives. Hence, there is a need of a simple and reliable method for selecting the most appropriate area for biopsy. One such method is colposcopy that may be beneficial as compared to routine clinical examination. Hence, this article stresses on the colposcopic method that can be used to select biopsy sites which should be evaluated in further clinical studies.