Marlene,

There are TWO kinds of search here -- One is at the TOP of the Forum pages and searches only the Forums -- The other is at the BOTTOM of the page and searches only outside the Forums (the OC Foundation and the outside world) -- I just did an 'outside' search on dysplasia and came up with five pages of hits...

Here's some info that I got by searching 'dysplasia define'

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The term dysplasia is reserved for lesions showing combinations and degrees of cytologic atypia (e.g., hyperchromatism, increased nuclear size, pleomorphism, dyskeratosis, and increased or (1,18) abnormal mitotic figures). Atypia confined to basilar and parabasilar keratinocytes constitutes mild dysplasia , whereas atypia extending into the midspinous layer is termed moderate dysplasia. When cellular atypia extends to the surface layer, the terms severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ (complete top-to-bottom cytologic atypia) are applied. Architectural changes are also a feature of dysplasia, the most significant being a bulbous or teardrop shape of rete ridges. For oral mucosa in general, up to 20% of clinically defined leukoplakias that are biopsied may exhibit dysplasia; lesions (19) located in the floor of the mouth approach a 40% prevalence of dysplastic change. Dysplastic leukoplakias have a high propensity to progress to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. However, leukoplakias without present evidence of dysplastic changes may progress to dysplasia and subsequently to carcinoma; still, many leukoplakias fail to undergo malignant transformation. (20,21)
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