Prevalence of oral mucosal normal variations and lesions in a middle-aged population: a Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study.

Background: In this cross-sectional study we investigated the oral mucosal changes in a middle-aged Finnish population. We analyzed the prevalence of potentially malignant disorders and the influence of smoking, snuff and alcohol use on the mucosal changes.

Methods: Of the 12,068 members of the NFBC 1966, a total of 1961 participants (16.