Design and Implementation of the Oral Medicine South Africa Registry: Epidemiology of Oral Lesions at three tertiary academic facilities in the Western Cape, South Africa

Background There is a dearth of information on the epidemiology of oral lesions in South Africa. Knowledge of the characteristics and distribution of oral lesions in South Africa has many practical and research-related implications. Methods This is a cross-sectional, retrospective analysis of patients presenting to the Tygerberg, Mitchells Plain, and Groote Schuur Oral Medicine Clinics from 2010–2022. Data is obtained from collating histopathological reports and from a review of patients’ folders. A REDCap® database was created for the project. Results A total of 2021 patients and 2085 biopsy specimens were added to the database. The average age of patients is 42.8 years with a standard deviation of 19.7 (range: 1 month-89 years). Of these, 1087/2021 (53.7%) are women and 786/2021 (38.9%) are men (male: female ratio 1:1.4). The five most observed oral conditions are fibroepithelial hyperplasia 397/2085 (19%), squamous cell carcinoma 285/2085 (13.7%), pyogenic granulomas 199/2085 (9.5%), mucoceles 175/2085 (8.4%), and benign human papilloma virus-induced lesions 120/2085 (12.2%). Conclusion This study assisted with the creation of the REDCap®-based database. The reported frequencies of the most prevalent diagnoses are similar to those found in studies from comparable populations. Further research could determine risk factors associated with the diverse pathological diagnoses.