Rapid economical acetic acid Papanicolaou staining procedure versus conventional staining procedure in normal oral mucosa

BACKGROUND: Papanicolaou (Pap) staining technique is a conventional technique used in cytology but it is time consuming. AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of Rapid Economical Acetic acid Papanicolaou stain (REAP) over conventional staining technique in studying normal oral mucosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty patients were selected and were grouped based on their habits. Two smears were obtained from each patient and were subjected to both the staining techniques. A total of 160 slides were studied for features such as cellular outline, nuclear outline, nuclear details, cellular differentiation, micronuclei and cellular transparency. RESULTS: The conventional staining procedure showed 79 cases of optimal cellular staining, 78 cases of optimal nuclear staining, 35 cases of optimal nuclear details, 57 cases of optimal differentiation and 27 cases of optimal transparency and 33 cases of optimal micronuclei. REAP staining showed 75 cases of optimal cellular staining, 64 cases of optimal nuclear staining, 20 cases of optimal nuclear details, 36 cases of optimal differentiation and 28 cases of optimal transparency and 25 cases of optimal micronuclei. CONCLUSION: REAP staining effectively reduces the time and the cost factor, but the cytological details are well observed under conventional staining technique in normal patients.