SUMMARY
OBJECTIVE: Epidemiological studies have great importance for oral health as they show the prevalence of various diseases in their respective environments, in addition to being able to characterize a given population. The objective of this work is to identify the prevalence of oral lesions in dental clinics of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Health of the Metropolitan Union of Education and Culture (UNIME – Lauro de Freitas) in order to characterize the epidemiological profile of this population.METHODS: The sample was composed by 434 histopathological reports of oral lesions diagnosed from 2003 to 2014, correlating them with the following variables: sex, age, type of biopsy (incisional/excisional), histopathologic diagnosis, clinical suspicion and anatomical location.REULTS: The epidemiological profile of patients affected by oral diseases had high percentage of females (62.9%), with mean age of 39 years, and the most prevalent type of biopsy was the excisional (72.81%). The data showed non-neoplastic proliferative processes as the most prevalent group of lesions (24.2%), followed by odontogenic cysts (17.5%). Lesions were most often presented in the mandible (19.6%), followed by periapex (18.89%), gum (11.75%) and jugal mucosa (9.45%).CONCLUSION: The non-neoplastic proliferative processes can be prevented with simple measures of oral health.