Prevalence of Soft Tissue Lesions Caused by Removable Denture in Patients from the Dental School of Caruaru, PE, Brazil

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of soft tissue lesions caused by removable dentures in patients treated at the Asa Branca Clinic of the Dental School of Caruaru, PE, Brazil. Method: A cross-sectional study was performed by the review of 842 dental charts of patients treated during the year 2005. From the total, 232 dental files were discarded for containing incomplete or missing data. Results: Out of 610 dental charts, 39.5% (n = 241) of the patients presented some type de lesion caused by removable dentures. The following lesions were found: denture-induced stomatitis (n = 206/78.0%), fibrous hyperplasia (n = 39/14.8%), angular cheilitis (n = 13/4.9%) and inflammatory papillary hyperplasia (n = 6/2.3%). As much as 84.1% (n = 222) of the patients were female, 24.8% (n = 151) were aged 41 to 50 years, and 56.4% lived in the same city where the dental service was offered. Conclusion: The prevalence of lesions caused by removable dentures is high as compared to the other soft tissue lesions, mainly denture-induced stomatitis.