Medical Research Center

Oral leukoplakia

Leukoplakia is defined as a stain or white plaque, which appears on the tongue or mucous membranes of the mouth, which can not be scraped or detached and can not be attributed clinically or pathologically by any other disease. The significance of this lesion is its relatively high incidence and it is considered a precancerous lesion at 5% of cases, progresses to squamous cell carcinoma.

From a clinical standpoint, leukoplakia is classified as:

* Homogeneous leukoplakia, the most frequent, with little risk of malignant transformation
* Nodular or mottled, very rare, with a relatively high risk of degeneration to cancer
* Erythroleukoplakia, similar to the homogeneous leukoplakia but surrounded by red lesions

Some authors include as verrucous leukoplakia fourth group, proliferative and aggressive very rare, with increased risk of malignant transformation and are often seen as an advanced stage of homogeneous leukoplakia.

Homogeneous leukoplakia is a lesion uniformly white, firm, not very thick and smooth or rough. Nodular leukoplakia is a raised lesion with inhomogeneous edges presented with small rounded white and red elevations of the mucosa that give a granular appearance. It is also called speckled leukoplakia. The erythroleukoplakia is characterized by being surrounded by erythematous areas, sometimes with erosions. Finally, the proliferative verrucous leukoplakia, first described in 1984 is an exophytic lesion, persistent, warty and clinically aggressive and resistant to treatment.

Etiopathology

Of leukoplakias can be classified as induced by external factors and idiopathic. The snuff is one of major causes of this disease, with snuff leukoplakias by between 6 and 10 times more frequent than those resulting from other causes.

Other factors that have been viewed as inducing factors of leukoplakia are excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet with vitamin or mineral deficiencies, bad habits of compulsive (nibble parts of the mouth), poor oral hygiene and ill-fitting dentures or the existence of sharp angles of the crowns and fillings. The Viodent (a mouthwash based on an active principle of Sanguinaria canadensis) has been implicated in the development of oral leukoplakia.
Many authors consider some infectious diseases (infections with Candida, syphilis, infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) as etiological factors of leukoplakia (bhakti)

Tags: alcohol, Cancer, dentist, Dentistry, diet, etiopathology, Leukoplakia, mouth, Oral, precancerous