Preliminary report on prevalence of oral cancer and precancerous lesions among dental patients in Saudi Arabia.

The study consisted of 674 consecutive examinations done on patients on their first visit the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, over a 1-yr period starting January 1983. Men outnumbered women and 69% of the patients were Saudi Arabian nationals. Oral cancer was seen in one non-Saudi, whereas the overall prevalence of leukoplakia was 1.9%. The other lesions were leukoedema 8.3%, nicotinic stomatitis 2.5%, and lichen planus 0.6%. Except for lichen planus, all the lesions were almost exclusively found in men with a close relationship to oral tobacco habits. Leukoedema, nicotinic stomatitis and leukoplakia showed a tendency to occur together in varying combinations among smokers.