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BackgroundAmong the diseases of oral mucosa, malignant tumors are the most dangerous, but not the most common lesions that might appear in the oral cavity. Since most of the studies are focused on the detection of cancer in the oral cavity, we were interested in detecting the frequency of benign changes of the oral mucosa in Slovene population. Oral mucosal lesions are important pointer of oral health and quality of life, especially in elderly. The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions, together with information on the risk habits associated with oral health, such as tobacco and alcohol use, can help in planning future oral health studies and screening programs.Patients and methodsSurvey upon oral mucosal lesions was conducted during the national project for oral cancer screening in spring 2017 in the Slovenia in which more than 50% of dentists participated and 2395 patients (904 men and 1491 women) were included.ResultsClinical examination, which was conducted according to the WHO standards revealed that 645 patients (27%) had oral mucosal lesions. The ten most common oral lesions detected were fibroma, gingivitis, Fordyce spots, white coated tongue, cheek biting, linea alba, denture stomatitis, geographic tongue, recurrent aphthous ulcerations and lichen planus.ConclusionsOverall, these epidemiological data suggest need for specific health policies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of oral mucosal lesions.

Dentists and dental students can be exposed to the human immunodeiciency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) during routine work. The aims of this study were to assess a group of dental students' knowledge about HIV, HBV, and HCV infections; assess their attitudes and risk perceptions about the treatment of patients with HIV, HBV, and HCV; and identify factors associated with their knowledge and willingness to treat these patients. An anonymous survey was administered to 534 predoctoral students at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The response rate was 71.9 percent. Students' knowledge increased with each year of study. Senior students (in their third, fourth, and ifth years) had more professional attitudes and were signiicantly more positive about dentists' professional obligation to treat patients who are HIV-positive than were junior students (in their irst and second years; p=0.0002). Senior students also expressed signiicantly more willingness to treat intravenous drug users and patients with hepatitis (p=0.016 and p=0.033, respectively). Female students were signiicantly more convinced than male students that routine dental treatment carried a signiicant risk of HIV and hepatitis infection (p=0.025). These students' knowledge negatively correlated with the lack of willingness to treat intravenous drug users and patients with hepatitis, and they expressed their willingness to receive further theoretical and practical education on this topic.

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