Background: Pain arising from mucosal lesions can be of diagnostic value and could be useful in monitoring patients and planning their treatment. Although several studies have been conducted in assessment and characterization of odontogenic and neuralgic pain, pain arising from oral mucosal lesions has not received much attention. Hence this study focuses on pain characterization and correlation of oral mucosal pain with the objective signs of the lesions. Aim: The purpose of this study was to characterize oral mucosal pain. Methods: Patients with symptomatic oral mucosal lesions were asked regarding their pain characteristics like quality of pain, intensity of pain (VAS I), functional disturbance (VAS F), aggravating / relieving factors and associated sleep disturbance. The data thus obtained, clinical examination findings and diagnosis were recorded. Results: 105 patients aged 16 to 70 years (44 females and 61males) with different oral mucosal diseases including Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAU), Traumatic ulcer (TU),Oral lichen planus (OLP), Burning mouth syndrome (BMS), Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) formed the study group. 49% patients described the pain as “burning”. Moderate to severe pain intensity of pain was experienced by 65.6 % males and 75% of females. There was no significance difference between males and females for VAS I and VAS F (p=0.352 and p=0.368). Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with VAS I and VAS F (p=0.000). A highly significant negative correlation was found between intensity of pain and size of ulcers (p value =0.000). Conclusion: Oral mucosal pain is generally burning in quality and intensity of pain is related to its functional disturbance. No significant difference was found between the genders for VAS I and VAS F measures. Smaller the size of the ulcer, greater was the intensity of pain. The characteristics of pain could aid in improving the diagnosis, quality of treatment and monitoring painful oral mucosal conditions.