ABSTRACT
Premalignant lesions of the oral cavity are frequently observed in asymptomatic patients in clinical practice of dentistry, general medicine and otolaryngology head and neck surgery. Patients and clinicians are aware of the finite but low risk of progression to malignancy and are motivated to consider treatment in an attempt to mitigate the risk of future cancer. While excision of a well-defined lesion would eliminate the risk of malignant transformation of that lesion, the overall risk of developing oral cancer is not affected due to the impact of carcinogen exposure to the entire oral mucosa. In addition, surgical intervention is not feasible in people with multifocal lesions.
