Prevalence of Oral Mucosal Lesions among Tobacco Chewers in North Indian Population

ABSTRACT

Background: The oral mucosa acts as a protective barrier against pathogens, and carcinoma causing agents. It can be affected by different lesions and conditions, few of which are harmless, while some may have harmful complications. Objective: To study the prevalence of oral mucosal variants & Lesions among tobacco users in North Indian population.Methods:A total of 640 subjects consisting of 492 males and 148 females reporting to the outpatient Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology were selected. The subjects were divided into two groups. The first group was control group with subjects not having tobacco chewing habit consisting of 320 subjects including 246 males and 74 females. Another group included tobacco with same no of subjects as that of control group. All subjects were examined for presence of oral mucosal variants in accordance with the WHO acknowledged coloured atlas, clinical examination and history. Results: Prevalence of oral mucosal variants was found to be 75.0% among tobacco chewers. Males were more affected (70.0%) than the females. The maximum no of cases reported were in the age group of 20-40 years. Leukoplakia was the most common oral mucosal lesion among tobacco chewers. Conclusion: Tobacco chewing can be considered to be a concerned habit and necessary public health programmes should be taken to eradicate this habit.