The prevalence of oral white lesions in patients referring to the Kerman (2006-2022)

Abstract

Background: White oral mucosal lesions are among the most common lesions in dental patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of white mucosal lesions in patients referred to Kerman Dental School from 2006 to 2022. Methods: This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study performed using the records of 2215 patients who referred to the oral diseases department of Kerman Dental School from 2006 to 2022. The records were reviewed, and the patients who were diagnosed with white lesions of the oral mucosa were selected. Then, a detailed history, including patient identification, complaints, duration of illness, personal habits (including addiction, past medical history, and familial history), was obtained. Patients’ information, including age, sex, location of lesion, duration of lesion, clinical characteristics (including size, color, and surface specifications), and microscopic diagnosis, were extracted and were entered into the data entry forms. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 by descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation), and the chi-square test was performed at a significance level of 0.05. Results: In the present study, 463 (20.9%) patients had at least one type of white lesion. The most common white lesion was idiopathic lichen planus (ILP) with a prevalence of 57.5% (266 cases). Out of the 463 patients, 294 (63.5%) were female and 169 (36.5%) were male. There was a significant relationship between gender and lesions in ILP (F>M, P=0.001), contact and drug lichen planus (F>M, P=0.006), and oral cancer (M>F, P=0.006). Finally, the most common site of involvement was the buccal mucosa. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the most common lesion was lichen planus and the most commonly involved site was buccal mucosa. Also, most diagnostic concordance was found between the clinical and histopathologic diagnoses of lichen planus.