Managing oral potentially malignant disorders:A question of risk

The concept of an oral disease process that presents as a ‘potentially malignant state’ that is neither entirely benign nor frankly malignant is a difficult concept both for clinicians and their affected patients. While it is recognised that a range of oral mucosal conditions, now collectively termed ‘potentially malignant disorders’, harbour an increased risk of squamous carcinoma, we remain frustratingly unable in contemporary clinical practice to predict individual lesion behaviour, quantify the risk of malignant transformation or objectively plan interventions.