Knowledge about oral leukoplakia for use at different levels of expertise, including patients.

Abstract

The purpose of this contribution is to discuss how the subject of oral leukoplakia might be communicated among the various healthcare workers and also among patients. The discussion is based on the available literature and on many decades of clinical and histopathological experience of the author. The literature does not contain guidelines on what level of expertise can be expected from the various dental and medical healthcare workers in the field of oral leukoplakia, nor on how to communicate this disorder with patients. Based on personal experience, a number of suggestions have been proposed to overcome this shortcoming. Knowledge about oral leukoplakia varies among the various healthcare workers, depending on their level of expertise. Communication on this subject with patients should be in easy to understand wording, avoiding professional terminology as much as possible.