title: Oral mucosal lesions in a Chilean elderly population: A retrospective study with a systematic review from thirteen countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The oral examination is an essential part of the multidisciplinary medical care in elderly people. Oral mucosal lesions and normal variations of oral anatomy (OMLs) are very common in this people, but few studies have examined the frequency and prevalence of these conditions worldwide and less in Chile. The aim of this research was to evaluate the frequency of OMLs in a Chilean elderly population.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was conducted a retrospective study (Talca, Chile). Two hundred seventy-seven OMLs were classified in groups and anatomical sites. In order to contextualize our numbers, we made a systematic review using Publish or Perish software, Google Scholar and InteractiVenn.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most prevalent OMLs groups were soft tissue tumors, epithelial pathology, facial pain and neuromuscular diseases, and dermatologic diseases. The most frequent OMLs included irritation fibroma (30 patients, 10.8%), hemangioma (20, 7.2%), burning mouth syndrome (20 cases, 7.2%), oral lichen planus (12, 4.3%) and epulis fissuratum (12, 4.3%). In the systematic review, 75 OMLs were relevant and the more studied pathologies were traumatic ulcerations (11 of 15 articles), oral lichen planus (10/15), irritation fibroma, melanotic pigmentations, and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (9/10, respectively). Considering all included articles, most frequent OMLs in elderly people included denture-related stomatitis (13.3%), irritation fibroma (8.7%) and fissured tongue (6.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results reflect the frequency of OMLs diagnosed in a specialized service in south of Chile and many countries around the world. These numbers will allow the establishment of preventive politics and adequacy of the clinical services.Key words:Oral mucosal lesions, elderly people, Chilean population, frequency, systematic review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Talca (UTALCA), Talca, Chile; Department of Oral Diagnosis, School of Dentistry (FOP), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Talca (UTALCA), Talca, Chile.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Droguett
authors.affiliation: Gerontology Program, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: María-Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Arenas-Márquez