PREVALENCE STUDY OF ORAL WHITE LESIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO A NEW DEFINITION OF ORAL LEUKOPLAKIA

In this survey, the experiences with and implications of a revised def inition of oral leucoplakia are described. One of the new aspects of t he revised definition is the distinction between a provisional, clinic al diagnosis and a definitive one for which histopathological examinat ion is required. A prevalence study of white lesions of the oral mucos a among a selected population of 1000 consecutive patients from the Ne therlands showed a prevalence of a provisional and definitive diagnosi s of oral leucoplakia of 0.6 and 0.2%, respectively. For uniform repor ting, a recently proposed classification and staging system has been u sed to stage leucoplakias with a definitive diagnosis. The use of the revised definition of oral leucoplakia, as well as the classification and staging system, seem very suitable for epidemiological studies. Co pyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd