Evaluation of the prevalence of developmental oral mucosa anomalies among students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2009

Background and Objective: Developmental anomalies of the oral mucosa are a group of lesions that are normal condition rather than having virtual disease characteristic. The prevalence of oral mucosal abnormalities differs between individuals that could be associated to genetic and/or environmental factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of these lesions as well as to determine their relation to gender in a population of students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences.  Materials and Methods: A total of 162 students from the Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2009 were examined to determine the prevalence of mucosal anomalies. All students were examined using dental unit light and dental mirrors. A questionnaire was completed for each subject. In this questionnaire, it was asked about demographic data and about their general health and diseases. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. To compare the differences between male and female subjects, Fisher exact test was performed. A p value less than 0.05 considered significant.  Results: Out of 162 cases examined, 63.6% demonstrated at least a mucosal anomaly. The most common developmental mucosal anomaly was commissural lip pit (22.8%), fissured tongue (21.6%), and palatal torus (10.5%). The prevalence of other mucosal anomalies was only less than 10%.  Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the prevalence of dental and mucosal abnormalites was high in this population, requiring its teaching to medical and dental students.