This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a rapid, chairside salivary C-reactive protein (CRP) detection kit in distinguishing oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and oral squamous cell carcinoma from clinically normal oral mucosa, utilizing whole saliva samples. Unstimulated saliva was collected from individuals with OPMDs or oral cancer and from systemically healthy participants as controls. CRP concentrations were quantified using a newly developed colorimetric rapid assay. Statistical comparisons of the mean ± SD between study groups were made using Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA followed by Dunn’s post hoc test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to determine the positive and negative likelihood ratios. The mean salivary CRP levels measured were 4.21 ng/mL for the oral cancer group, 2.51 ng/mL for the OPMD group, and 0.7 ng/mL for the control group. Post hoc comparisons confirmed significant elevation of CRP in both oral cancer and OPMD cases compared to healthy controls. The findings demonstrate that the novel rapid colorimetric assay effectively differentiates patients with oral lesions from healthy individuals, showing high sensitivity and potential utility as a screening tool. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the OPMD and malignancy subgroups.
