Epidemiological study of 534 biopsies of oral mucosal lesions in elderly Brazilian patients.

BACKGROUND

The number of elderly people in Brazil has increased during the last few decades. Oral lesions are very common in this age group, but few studies have examined the prevalence of these conditions worldwide and, particularly, in Brazil.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of oral lesions in an elderly Brazilian population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 534 cases of oral lesions retrieved from the files of the Oral Pathology Laboratory of the School of Dentistry, University of Pernambuco, between 1991 and 2008, were descriptively and qualitatively evaluated.

RESULTS

In this study, the oral mucosal lesions cases preferentially affected women (n=357; 66.8%), white persons (n=253; 47.3%), in the seventh decade of life (n=361; 67.6%), and with lesions predominantly located on the gingival/alveolar ridge (n=102; 19.1%). The non-neoplastic lesions (n=353; 66.1%) were more prevalent than benign neoplasms (n=85; 15.9%), oral cancers (n=56; 10.4%) and potentially malignant lesions (n=40; 7.4%). The five most predominant diseases were fibrous hyperplasia, non-specific chronic inflammatory processes, oral squamous cell carcinoma, non-specified odontogenic cysts and epithelial dysplasia.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results may be helpful in understanding the distribution of oral diseases in this very specific age group that requires special attention.