Oral mucosal lesions in non oral habit diabetic patients and association of diabetes mellitus with oral precancerous lesions

Abstract Aims This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions (OML) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and non-diabetic subjects without any oral habits and to investigate the association of DM with oral precancerous lesions. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 420 diabetic and 420 non-diabetic control subjects without any oral habits. Detailed oral examination was performed based on international criteria. Results A significantly greater proportion of subjects with DM (45%) had one or more OML in comparison to non-diabetics (38.3%). Patients with DM showed a significantly greater prevalence of geographic tongue, denture stomatitis and angular cheilitis than non-diabetics ( p < 0.05). The results also showed an association between occurrence of one or more OML and metabolic control of diabetic patients ( p < 0.05). For precancerous lesions, lichen planus was found in two diabetic patients while none of controls had any precancerous lesion ( p > 0.05). Conclusions Prevalence of OML was significantly higher in diabetic patients than non-diabetics and this prevalence was associated with the metabolic control of the patients. However, no association was observed between DM and oral precancerous lesions.