title: Prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in a brazilian military police population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data obtained from oral health surveys are very important for identifying disease-susceptible groups and for developing dental care and prevention programs. So, the purpose of the current article was to investigate the prevalence of oral mucosa lesions (OMLs) in a population of Brazilian police.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interviews and oral cavity examinations were performed on a sample of 395 police officers who were randomly selected by the calibrated researcher. The number of individuals was obtained by a sample calculation using the finite population correction. The diagnostic criteria were based on the WHO (1997) criteria and adapted to Brazilian surveys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 8.61% of the population presented some OML. Traumatic injuries and benign migratory glossitis (BMG) were the most prevalent lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of potentially malignant disorders was lower than among the Brazilian population.The most prevalent lesion among the police officers was related to trauma. Patients dissatisfied with oral health had a higher risk of presenting OMLs. Key words:Mouth disease, mouth mucosa, military personnel, public health, oral pathology, oral leukoplakia.
authors.affiliation: MDS, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Viviani-Silva
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: MDS, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil ; DDS, Police Department of Minas Gerais State, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eliane-Lopes
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Godinho
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucyana-Conceição
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Farias
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marques-Silva
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais,Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio-Henrique-Sousa
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: João-Felício
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rodrigues-Neto
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raquel-Conceição
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alfredo-Maurício-Batista
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: De-Paula
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andréa-Maria-Eleutério-de Barros-Lima
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: PhD, Department of Dentistry, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Brazil.
authors.forename: André-Luiz
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Sena-Guimarães