Evaluation of Rates and Demographic Properties of Oral Mucosal Disease in Children

Objective: Our aim was to determine the frequency and demographic characteristics of the patients presenting at the department of pediatric dermatology with complaints of mouth and lip lesions and to compare their epidemiological data with the literature in this study. Material and Methods: Of the 3000 children aged between 0 and 16 who presented at the pediatric dermatology outpatients between 2011 January and 2011 December, the children who had been brought with complaints of mouth and lip sores were retrospectively assessed in terms of age, gender, socio-economic level (SEL), medicine use, disease history, systemic disease and presence of genetic disease. Results: Of the pediatric patients brought with mouth complaints, 64 (58%) were girls and 46 (42%) were boys. Fifteen different oral mucosal diseases were detected in 110 patients (3.6%). The most frequent oral mucosal diseases were RAS (recurrent aphthous stomatitis) (16.3%, n=18), perioral dermatitis (14.5%, n=16), and hand foot mouth disease (13.6%, n = 15). Conclusion: Although oral mucosal diseases are less frequently seen in children compared to adults, early diagnosis and treatment are important since they may be a sign of systemic disease, affect growth and development and may lead to psychological problems