Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2020

Abstract

Oral ulcers affect many dental patients; impairing their lives physically, psychologically, and socially. Due to the absence of information about oral ulcers in our population, the authors undertook a pilot study to obtain a more complete picture of prevalence of oral ulcers, its probable risk factors and its burden on the quality of life. Materials and methods The authors performed a cross‑sectional study with 605 adult dental patients. All patients filled a questionnaire inquiring about the risk factors. An oral examination was performed to each participant to determine presence or absence of oral ulcers; and the type of the oral ulcer. Each oral ulcer patient subsequently completed an oral health impact profile‑14 questionnaire. Results The prevalence of oral ulcers was 10.3%; half of these were recurrent aphthous ulcers. After adjusting for the predictor variables, rural residents had higher odds for oral ulcers. The authors found that patients with erythema multiforme reported the highest impairment in quality of life; whereas patients with recurrent viral ulcers reported the lowest impairment. Conclusion Patients having erythema multiforme, pemphigus vulgaris and ulcerative forms of oral lichen planus suffer from the poorest quality of life compared to patients having other types of oral ulcers. The study showed the importance of quantifying the impairment of quality of life in patients having oral ulcers to plan their treatment accordingly.

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