Frequency of Oral Mucosal Lesions and some Related Factors in Patients Attending Semnan Dental School (2017-2019)

Determining the prevalence of various diseases in different communities is one of the first measures to improve the level of education, prevention and treatment of diseases. Occasionally, first symptoms of some diseases appear in mouth, so, timely diagnosis made by dentists is of particular importance. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of oral mucosal lesions and some related factors in patients over 12 years of age in Oral Medicine Department affiliated with Semnan Dental School in 2017-2019.

In this descriptive study, all individuals aged 12 years and older (n=1001) were investigated. Data, including gender, age, oral lesions, smoking, and wearing dentures were recorded in a checklist and analyzed in Chi-square test in SPSS V26.

In this study, 1001 people including 420 men and 581 women were studied. Frequency of oral lesions was 78.5%. The most common lesions were coated tongue (36.5%), gingivitis (34%), and periodontitis (28.4%). There was a significant relationship between age and oral lesions (P< 0.001). Total frequency of lesions was significantly higher in smokers (P= 0.016). Among the patients, 98.8% were unconscious about their oral lesions.

Relatively high frequency of oral lesions and lack of awareness of their presence in people studied indicate the necessity for periodic oral mucosal examinations and dental examinations.