Tongue lesions and anomalies in a sample of Yemeni dental patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: Tongue examination helps considerably in diagnosing the underlying health state of the patient, especially in the cases of chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and association of tongue lesions with risk factors among Yemeni dental patients. Materials and methods: An oral medicine specialist examined all 713 patients attending the dental polyclinics at the University of Sciences and Technology (Sana'a, Yemen). The examination sheet was designed to include information related to patient characteristics, medical history, dental history, habits, and tongue lesions. Results: The prevalence of tongue lesions among the examined participants was 76.5 percent. The prevalence rate was 83.4 percent for males and 69.2 percent for females. Fissured tongue was the most common condition. Logistic regression analysis indicated that older age (p<0.001), gender (p=0.007), khat chewing (p<0.001), and smoking (p=0.001) were associated with fissured tongue; gender (p<0.001), khat chewing (p<0.001), and smoking (p<0.001) were associated with hairy tongue; and older age (p<0.001), khat chewing (p=0.001), and smoking (p=.021) were associated with coated tongue. Conclusion: The prevalence of tongue lesions among this sample of Yemeni population was 76.5 percent; fissured tongue and hairy tongue were the most prevalent lesions. Khat chewing, smoking, and older age were the associated risk factors for many of studied lesions and anomalies.

Oral mucosal alterations among the institutionalized elderly in Brazil

This study determined the prevalence of oral mucosal alterations and associated factors among the institutionalized elderly in Brazil. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, a review of their medical records and an intra-oral examination. A sample of 335 individuals over 60 years of age was randomly selected. In total, 646 alterations were diagnosed; 59.1 percent were variations of the normal oral mucosa. The most frequent variation consisted of sublingual varicosities (51.6 percent). Denture stomatitis (15.2 percent) and denture hyperplasia (12.8 percent) were the most frequent lesions. Elderly patients who wore dentures had a significantly higher prevalence of oral mucosal lesions (p = 0.00) than those that didn't wear dentures. There was a high prevalence of variations of the normal oral mucosa and of mucosal lesions, especially denture-induced lesions, among the institutionalized elderly.

A study of oral mucosal lesions in geriatric patients / Prevalência de lesões da mucosa bucal em pacientes geriátricos

Dada a escassez de estudos quanto à patologia bucal do idoso, propõe-se o estudo de 170 pacientes acima de 60 anos e as principais lesões observadas. Um protocolo adequado foi desenvolvido para obter informações detalhadas sobre antecedentes médicos, hábitos, estado atual da saúde e medicamentos utilizados entre outros aspectos. Após exame estomatológico os diagnósticos clínicos foram formulados e, em caso de dúvida e para confirmação diagnóstica, foram realizadas biópsia, cultura ou citologia esfoliativa. A faixa etária prevalente foi a de 70/79 anos com predomínio do sexo feminino. As alterações mais frequentes foram: varicosidades (49,41//), principalmente linguais, seguida de candidose eritematosa de localização palatina (28,24//), além de processos proliferativos não neoplásicos, predominando as hiperplasias fibrosas inflamatórias (17,06//). Estas duas patologias, em geral, são associadas a próteses. Em menor grau observamos grânulos de Fordyce (13,53//), língua fissurada e glossite atrófica (ambas 7,06//), além de lesões brancas (6,47//). Com uma frequência menor que 5//destacam-se: quelite angular, líquen plano, úlceras traumáticas e língua geográfica, não tendo sido detectado nenhum caso de neoplasia maligna no grupo estudado. Conclui-se que a estomatologia geriátrica merece uma maior atenção do Cirurgião-Dentista quanto aos aspectos fisiológicos do envelhecimento, as iatrogenias e as patologias que podem estar presentes e devem ser tratadas adequadamente para o bem estar do idoso