Objective: This study investigated an adult population’s knowledge of oral cancer in a region of Brazil. Study Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted with a representative sample of the Brazilian adult general population. Study participants answered a questionnaire to assess their knowledge about the risk factors for oral cancer and what health professionals to look for in the event of receiving a diagnosis of oral cancer. The questionnaire included demographic data, social and professional characteristics, in addition to subjective and objective questions. Results: Two thousand two hundred sixty-one questionnaires were completed; the majority of participants were women 1393 (61.6%) principally in their third and fourth decades of life. The risk factors mentioned by these participants were as follows: tobacco (83.6%), familiar history (66.2%), and deficient oral hygiene (54.5%). When asked about health professional to look for in case of oral cancer, 1150 (50.9%) participants answered dentist and the others (1111; 49.1%) said doctor. Among the participants that answered dentist, 52.9% said they would look for a general dentist in case of suspected oral cancer; only 9.7% said stomatologist. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the Brazilian adult population needs to learn more about oral cancer, although these findings can be used as baseline data regarding knowledge about oral cancer in this population. Financial Support: FAPEMIG