Prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in an adult population from eight communities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of Oral Mucosal Lesions (OMLs) in an adult population from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 751 subjects from eight communities from Santo Domingo accepted the invitation to participate in an oral screening from October 2016 to January 2017. 248 subjects were evaluated and clinically examined, age range 18-86 years. A validated instrument was designed to record demographic factors, age group, gender, anatomical location, presence or absence of OMLs, risk factors such as tobacco consumption and its frequency, and different forms of tobacco and alcohol use. A systematic oral clinical examination was conducted by a specialist. The presence or absence, and anatomic location of OMLs were recorded. The sample consisted of 44.4% males and 55.6 % females. 228 subjects had 1 or more lesions (91.9%), the median was 3 lesions per patient. In relation to risk factors, tobacco use in general was reported by 26.2 % of the subjects, with cigarette smoking reported by 75.4%, followed by other forms as "hookah” 9.2 %, marihuana 9.2%, cigars ("puros”)4.6% and pipe smoking 1.5%. Among the oral lesions detected by screening, the nonpathological group was prevalent, and included physiologic melanin pigmentation as the most frequent (25.0%) followed by palatal/mandibular tori (20.2%), Fordyce granules (7.9%), and Exostosis (5.6%). Potentially malignant disorders (Oral Leukoplakia, Oral Lichen Planus and Actinic Cheilitis) corresponded to 2.2%, 0.3 %, and 0.3%, respectively. No malignancy was observed clinically. This study contributes to determining the prevalence of OMLs in Dominican Republic and to identifying risk factors. This is the first study reporting the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among the Dominican adult population. This information is vital for establishing a public health program targeting the high-risk group to improve the oral health status in this population.