Oral lesions

 Oral lesions are bumps, lumps, sores, or ulcers in the mouth and involve the epithelium and sometimes the connective tissue adjacent to the epithelium. Some oral lesions are cancerous and may metastasize. Dentists, dental hygienists, and other oral health care professionals should screen for oral lesions each time a patient comes in for preventive care.

Between visits, it is possible that the patient may contact the oral health care provider because of an oral lesion that is causing symptoms such as pain, discomfort, difficulty eating or trouble swallowing.
      
Risk Factors of Oral Mucosal Lesions
    A person’s oral health involves more than just the teeth. Oral mucosal lesions can affect all the soft tissues in the mouth, and if left untreated, they can have serious impacts on a person’s teeth, gums, tongue, and other oral structures.

Gonsalves explains that certain risk factors increase the risk of developing oral mucosal lesions (2007). These risk factors include poor oral hygiene, sexually transmitted infections, alcohol or tobacco use, age, and disorders of the immune system.

During each patient visit, oral health care professionals should ask patients about these risk factors.
    Evaluation of Oral Lesions
    Primary care physicians and other doctors only rarely examine a patient’s mouth or perform an oral screening for lesions. Evaluation of oral lesions should be performed in a methodical manner using a diagnostic decision tree. This type of process helps the oral health care provider to arrive at a logical conclusion about the type of lesion the patient has.
    
    The evaluation, identification, and treatment of oral mucosal lesions have a big impact on a patient’s health and well-being, which is why the lesions deserve special attention from oral health care providers.

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