Correlation of oral homogenous leukoplakia with grades of oral epithelial dysplasia

Abstract

Background and objectives: Management of the oral leukoplakia poses a challenge in the general dental set up. It relies heavily on clinical presentation and grading of the histopathological diagnosis.Hence this study was done to correlate oral homogenous leukoplakia with the histopathological grades. Materials and methods:Study was conducted in 126 patients with the clinical diagnosis of oral homogenous leukoplakia and histopathological diagnosis. Data on age, gender, history of habits, lesion site at the initial diagnosis were correlated with the various grades of the oral epithelial dysplasia. Results: The results revealed mean age of 42.12 years, with wide range. 66.6% of the patient population were in younger age group. The site of occurrence were multiple with the buccal mucosa being frequently involved site in 71.6%. Predominantly 65.1% of the patients had the habit of chewing tobacco. 46% of the patients with homogenous leukoplakia had mild dysplasia, 26.2% moderate dysplasia, 13.5% of the severe dysplasia and 3.2% of the microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma. According to the binary system of grading dysplasia 42.9% patients had high risk grade. Conclusion: This study suggests that, severity does not depend on the clinical appearance alone, oral homogenous leukoplakia should be considered along with varying clinical factors.