A total of 1,037 oral soft tissue lesions (3.98 lesions per patient) was found in 260 elderly people of American/European and of Asian/African extraction residing in a home for senior citizens in Jerusalem. There was a strong association between wearing of dentures or usage of bare mucosa for masticatory purposes and the presence of specific lesions at typical locations. A significant difference was found between the two ethnic groups with respect both to pattern of tooth loss and utilization of rehabilitative means. The distribution of the oral soft tissue lesions among the participants in the study seemed to be linked to their cultural background.