Surface roughness of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral mucosa.

The surface roughness value of 39 oral squamous cell carcinomas was measured by the Rmax method. The means of the eight measurement values of each carcinoma ranged from 87 micron to 1176 micron. The average value of all 39 lesions was 341 micron. The average value of the lesions of the papillomatous and granulomatous types was larger than that of the leukoplakic and erosive types. The lesions with the size of more than 2 cm in diameter were rougher than those of less than 2 cm. The lesions of the gingiva were rougher than those on the tongue. There was an inclination that the surface of the verrucous carcinoma was rougher than that of the invasive squamous cell carcinoma and that the surface of early carcinoma was smoother than that of the invasive squamous cell carcinoma.