Background: The prevalence studies on common pediatric oral lesions (POLs) are still rare compared with those on dental caries and periodontal diseases. POLs vary among different geographic regions, age, racial and lifestyle of each population. The purpose of this study was to determine the most common 5 POLs referred to 5 different dental and medical branches in Middle Nile Delta, Egypt.
Materials and methods: A qualitative study design was used depending on expert opinions on oral lesions in children (aged 0-14 years). A total of 1164 dental and medical staff members, dentists and physicians at the hospitals of Universities and Ministry of Health, and Specialized Medical Centers & hospitals in the Middle Nile Delta region were included. The target population of the study was experts in 5 branches: Pedodontics, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Pediatrics, and Dermatology and Venereology. Data were collected using a checklist including the common diseases within the scope of the study and each expert was asked to give percentages for children seen with each disease entity in his/her branch. Data analysis: Data were statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 19. For each disease, the number and percentage were calculated and differences between observation recorded by health care workers in University and Ministry of Health were tested by chi-square test. P values < 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: The most common 5 lesions in Middle Nile Delta region were herpes infection (70.1%), candidiasis (69.2%), aphthous ulcer (67.3%), geographic tongue (56.1%), and acute dental abscess (49.7%). According to each branch; in Pedodontics; acute dental abscess (95.5%), pulp polyp (94.5%), parulis (88.6%), herpes infection (82.7%), and acute pericoronitis (82.3%) were recorded. In Oral Medicine and Periodontology; herpes infection (95.5%) was on the top, followed by physiologic pigmentation (83.5%), candidiasis (76.8%), aphthous ulcer (75.0%), and geographic tongue (70.5%), while in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; acute dental abscess (68.1%), acute pericoronitis (59.2%), odontoma (55.0%), eruption cyst (49.2%), and hemangioma (46.7%) were recorded. In the Pediatric branch; the top lesion was candidiasis (96.2%), followed by the geographic tongue (79.2%), herpes infection (74.2%), aphthous ulcer (68.7%), and scarlet fever (35.0%). In Dermatology and Venereology; candidiasis (87.0%), herpes infection (74.5%), geographic tongue (72.1%), physiologic pigmentation (70.0%), and chickenpox (66.7%) were the top 5 lesions.
Conclusion: In Middle Nile Delta, Egypt; the most common 5 pediatric oral lesions were herpes infection, followed by candidiasis, aphthous ulcer, geographic tongue, and acute dental abscess. The most common 5 lesions in each department; the results of Oral Medicine and Periodontology, Dermatology and Venereology, and Pediatrics were nearly similar but differ in the ranking, however, the Pedodontics and Oral &Maxillofacial Surgery reported different lesions from the others but similar to each in 2 lesions.