The prevalence and risk factors associated with benign migratory glossitis lesions in 7619 Turkish dental outpatients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of benign migratory glossitis (BMG) in a Turkish population with respect to gender, age, smoking, atopic and allergic diseases, dermatological diseases (psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis), systemic diseases, and fissured tongue (FT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study was conducted on 7619 patients (3819 female, 3800 male) with various dental complaints, ranging in age from 4 to 60 years, recruited from the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Oral Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey.

RESULTS

BMG was found in 1.5% (95% CI: 0.9-1.9) of all patients examined. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that age less than 30 (OR: 6.7 [95% CI: 2.9-15.5]), not smoking (6.3 [2.8-14.1]), and history of allergy or atopy (6.5 [3.3-12.5]) were significantly related to BMG. Of the patients with BMG, 34.5% (n = 40) had FT. No significant associations existed with gender, dermatological conditions (psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis), or systemic diseases (diabetes mellitus, hematological disorders, cardiovascular disorders, hepatitis, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory disorders, connective tissue disorders, and genitourinary disturbances).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated that BMG is more prevalent in young, nonsmokers, and atopic or allergic individuals.