No abstract

A study has been conducted to assess the prevalence of oral soft tissue lesions. In cooperation with the public health screening organization of the County of Uppsala in Sweden, all inhabitants older than 14 years of age in two communities, Håbo and Enköping, will be called for examination. So far, 8,696 individuals have been examined. Preliminary prevalence figures on 33 lesions are reported.

An international group of epidemiologists, clinicians and pathologists with a special interest in oral white lesions and their precancerous significance has reviewed earlier work on this topic and identified some of the problems associated with previous definitions, descriptions and classifications. Modifications to these definitions, descriptions and classifications have been proposed, accompanied by explanations of the reasons for identifying the need for changes to be made. Leukoplakia may be a provisional or definitive diagnosis dependent upon the circumstances of oral examination and the availability of other information. Guidelines are provided to assist in the application of the definitions of oral leukoplakia and illustrations depict the homogeneous and non-homogeneous clinical variants. Consideration is also given to the importance of a red component in a white lesion, or a lesion that is entirely red (erythroplakia). A new clinical staging procedure for oral leukoplakia is also proposed.

Among 20,333 Swedish people aged 15 yr and above, oral lichen planus was found in 1.9%; 1.6% among men and 2.2% among women. The highest prevalences were found in the age groups 65-74 and 55-64 yr. Reticular lichen planus was the most common type, found in 77.3%. The most prevalent intraoral location of lichen planus was the buccal mucosa, which was affected in 92%. Lichen planus was less prevalent among smokers than among non-smokers, except for the plaque type, which showed no difference in this context.

The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in Malaysia was determined by examining a representative sample of 11,707 subjects aged 25 years and above throughout the 14 states over a period of 5 months during 1993/1994. A two-stage stratified random sampling was undertaken. A predetermined number of enumeration blocks, the smallest population unit in the census publication, was selected from each state. With the selected enumeration block, a systematic sample of living quarters was chosen with a random start. The survey instrument included a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and a clinical examination. The clinical examination was carried out by 16 specially trained dental public health officers and the diagnosis calibrated with a final concordance rate of 92%. The age in the sample ranged from 25 to 115 years with a mean of 44.5+/-14.0. The sample comprised 40.2% males and 59.8% females; 55.8% were Malays, 29.4% Chinese, 10.0% Indians and 1.2% other ethnic groups. Oral mucosal lesions were detected in 1131 (9.7%) subjects, 5 (0.04%) had oral cancer, 165 (1.4%) had lesions or conditions that may be precancerous (leukoplakia, erythroplakia, submucous fibrosis and lichen planus) and 187 (1.6%) had betel chewer's mucosa. The prevalence of oral precancer was highest amongst Indians (4.0%) and other Bumiputras (the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak) (2.5%) while the lowest prevalence was amongst the Chinese (0.5%).

No abstract

The biophysical properties of non-eczematous skin at three locations in atopics and non-atopics were characterized using non-invasive physical methods. Skin friction was measured with a newly developed sliding friction instrument, the degree of hydration with a capacitance meter (Corneometer CM 820), and the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was determined using an Evaporimeter EP1. The areas examined (dorsum of the hand, volar forearm and lower back) showed lower values of friction and capacitance in the atopic patients than did corresponding sites in the normal controls. In most areas a significant correlation between friction and capacitance was found. The TEWL was increased in atopic skin, but TEWL seems to correlate neither to friction nor to capacitance.

A randomly selected sample of adult subjects living in a Swedish county was examined for the presence of oral mucosal lesions. Nine hundred twenty (920, 95%) of the selected sample of 967 subjects, comprising approximately 0.75% of the total adult population, were examined; lesions were registered in 596 of the 920. The registered prevalence levels were very similar to earlier reported data from Sweden. Further, the relationship between tobacco habits and mucosal lesions was analyzed and the time needed for treatment of the lesions was estimated. A positive correlation could be demonstrated between tobacco use and leukoplakia, frictional white lesion, coated tongue, hairy tongue and excessive melanin pigmentation, while a negative correlation was observed for geographic tongue and aphthous ulcers. Approximately 70% of the lesions were associated with local irritants (e.g. dentures, tobacco, cheek and lip biting etc.). The estimated mean time required for registration and management of oral mucosal lesions in the studied group of adults was 24 min per individual.