Background and purpose: There are remarkable differences in the prevalence of oral lesion throughout the world. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of oral mucosal lesion among patients referring to Babol Dental School in Iran. Materials and methods: This descriptive study was done in 2010 and census sampling was used to collect the data. The subjects included all the patients aged >15 years old attending Babol Dental School. The participants’ information regarding gender, age, systemic disease, drinking alcohol, smoking, oral lesion, and wearing dentures were recorded through a questionnaire. The data was then analyzed using chi-square test in SPSS. Results: Totally 1870 subjects including 1086 female and 784 male were studied. Frequency of oral lesion was 26.4%. The most prevalent lesions were coated tongue (4.8%), fissured tongue (3.9%), and lichen planus (1.8%). We observed higher frequency of lesions among females. There was a significant correlation between smoking and wearing dentures and the occurrence of mucosal lesion, however, no relation was found between drinking alcohol and mucosal lesion. Conclusion: The findings in this study revealed a high prevalence of oral soft tissue lesions related to smoking and wearing denture. Therefore, awareness programs are needed to enhance the knowledge of people about the risks of smoking and applying dentures correctly.

Keywords: Frequency, oral lesion, soft tissue

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