Odd Lips:
The Prevalence of Labial Disease




Introduction
 References




Prevalence Data
Gender-Specific Data
Disease-Specific Data

Crusting, tender angular cheilitis at the
 labial commissure in a 32 year old male.

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Prevalence investigations of abnormalities and disorders of the labial mucosa and vermilion are virtually nonexistent in the English literature, with the exception of those dealing with developmental clefts or carcinomas.  The few large-0scale prevalence surveys of benign oral mucosal and soft tissue lesions in Western populations provide no information relating to anatomic subsites, with the exception of the papers by Bouquot et al.  The following tables provide a summary of the work of the latter investigators.

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Table 1

Summary of the prevalence studies which included lip lesions,
 listed by date of publication.  References are at end of this page.

Modified from: Bouquot JE, Gundlach KKH. Odd tongues: the prevalence of common tongue lesions in 23,616 white Americans over 35 years of age. Quintessence Internat 1986; 17:719-730.

Author(s) Country Year
Population Size		 # Lesions/1,000 persons *
HS Mucocele        
Ross, Gross USA 1971 11,884   1.4        
Knapp USA 1971 181,338   0.2        
Axéll Sweden 1976 20,333 4.5 1.1        
Bouquot, Gundlach USA 1986 23,616 2.5 2.5        
Kleinman, et al. USA 1993 30,206 7.8 0.3        

* HS = herpes labialis

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Table 2

Gender-specific prevalence rates (per 1,000 persons) 
for lip disorders found in 23,616 adults attending oral 
cancer screening clinics in Minnesota, 
ranked by overall frequency.  

Modified from: Bouquot JE, Gundlach KKH. Odd lips: the prevalence of common lip lesions in 23,616 white Americans over 35 years of age. Quintessence Internat 1987; 18:277-284.

Diagnosis (n=698 Lesions) # Lesions/1,000 persons
Males Females Total

Leukoplakia *

 21.8 2.3 14.5

Hemangioma

 5.2 2.9 3.7

Irritation fibroma

 3.7 2.6 3.0

Herpes labialis

 2.4 2.6 2.5

Angular cheilitis

 1.8 1.9 1.9

Mucocele

 1.8 1.2 1.4

Trauma/irritation, NOS

 2.0 0.7 1.1

Scar tissue

 1.9 0.6 1.1

Papilloma

 0.5 1.3 1.0

Smokeless tobacco keratosis

 2.4 0.0 0.9

Aphthous ulcer

 0.9 0.7 0.8

Squamous cell carcinoma (early)

  2.1  0.0 0.8

Hematoma

 0.7 0.7 0.7

Traumatic ulcer

 0.9 0.6 0.7

Unknown

n/a

n/a

0.5

Fordyce granules

n/a

n/a

0.25

Varicous veins

n/a

n/a

0.25

Melanotic macule

n/a

n/a

0.17

Lichen planus

n/a

n/a

0.13

Commissural lip pit

n/a

n/a

0.08

Basal cell carcinoma

n/a

n/a

0.04

Amalgam tattoo

n/a

n/a

0.04

Nasoalveolar cyst

n/a

n/a

0.04

Epidermoid cyst

n/a

n/a

0.04

Candidiasis, acute

n/a

n/a

0.04

Total:

 48.5 19.4 29.6

* includes 18 of 219 with early invasive squamous cell carcinomas in males & 12 with severe epithelial dysplasia; all microscopically confirmed

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References (Listed Chronologically)

Knapp MJ. Oral disease in 181,338 consecutive oral examinations. J Am Dent Assoc 1971; 83:1288-1293.

Ross NM, Gross E. Oral findings based on an automated multiphasic health screening program. J Oral Med 1971; 26:21-26.

Axéll T. A prevalence study of oral mucosal lesions in an adult Swedish population. Odont Revy 1976; 27 (suppl 26):1-103.

Bouquot JE. Common oral lesions found during a mass screening examination. J Amer Dent Assoc 1986; 112:50-57.

Bouquot JE, Gundlach KKH. Odd lips: the prevalence of common lip lesions in 23,616 white Americans over 35 years of age. Quint Internat 1987; 18:277-284.

Kleinman DV, Swango PA, Pindborg JJ. Epidemiology of oral mucosal lesions in United States schoolchildren: 1986-87. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1994; 22:243-253.

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