THE PREVALENCE OF ORAL MUCOSAL LESIONS IN CHILDREN: A SINGLE CENTER STUDY

Purpose: Studies regarding oral health are mainly conducted on adult population and there is a lack of epidemiologic data on the oral health of children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of oral lesions in Turkish children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out on total of 1041 Turkish children attended by the outpatient Oral Medicine and Surgery Department of Istanbul University. Results: Examinations were performed and 277 of whom had a total of more than 30 different type of lesions detected. The fissured tongue (3.4%) was the most frequent lesion, followed by traumatic lesions (3.2%) and the cheek biting (2.5%). Conclusions: This is the first study in Turkey on oral lesions in this age group. We hope that our study will be a baseline data for future studies and for sure there is a need for more goodquality epidemiological studies in this area.