Depigmentation of oral mucosa as the earliest possible manifestation of oral submucous fibrosis in Sri Lankan preschool children.

This article reports the presentation of oral submucous fibrosis in five Sri Lankan preschool children, aged 2-3 years, with loss of pigmentation of the lips as the sole clinical feature. Oral submucous fibrosis has not been reported in this age group of children. The five 2-3 year olds did not display any classical features of oral submucous fibrosis, due to the disease having been detected at a very early stage. The present study attempts to establish that depigmentation of the lips and oral mucosa is perhaps the earliest feature to develop in the natural history of oral submucous fibrosis. The differential diagnosis of oral mucosal depigmentation relevant to these cases is also discussed. Previously-reported cases of oral submucous fibrosis in children are reviewed.