Abstract – Objective: Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in the oral cavity
representing the 90% of all oral malignancies that affect oral cavity. Primary risk factors associated
with oral cancer are alcohol and tobacco consumption. However, other emerging risk factors have
been proposed in Literature, including chronic trauma of the oral mucosa related to dental prostheses and incongruous restorations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the literature on the
correlation between oral carcinoma and chronic irritative trauma, with the help of a case report and
with focus on clinical features and differential diagnosis.
Materials and Methods: A literature search on MEDLINE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews and Wiley InterScience was performed, using the following words:
Oral Cancer, chronic Trauma and Denture Trauma in various combinations.
Results: The review produced 1356 results, but only 8 articles met the inclusion criteria and were
involved in the review. No association has been proven between chronic mucosal trauma and oral
cancer. Carcinoma has been shown to develop more frequently in trauma regions, particularly in
the tongue. As for the data on the gender and age of affected patients, it emerges that most of the
greatest incidence occurs around the sixth and seventh decade of life and men are more affected
than women.
Conclusions: Due to the heterogeneity of the different studies and the strong presence of
other factors such as smoking and alcohol, the role of trauma in carcinogenesis is unclear. Further
molecular, epidemiological and case-control studies are needed to define this correlation. It is advisable to carry out more restricted checks in patients at risk with dental prostheses