Background: Carvone (L-carvone) is naturally found in spearmint oil and is considered a mild skin sensitizer. It commonly serves as a flavoring agent in toothpaste and other mint tasting products. There is recent evidence that carvone may have a relationship with oral lichenoid lesions (OLL). Objectives: The aim was to study the frequency of carvone contact allergy in a Swedish patch test population at the Malmö clinic and to investigate the characteristics of the group with special reference to OLL. Methods: A 15-year retrospective study including all consecutive patients tested positive for carvone with different series containing carvone. The patients’ records were reviewed in regard to symptoms, previous diagnoses, type of referrer and contact allergy. Results: Three thousand eight hundred and twelve patients were patch tested to different series containing l-carvone, the most common being the Swedish dental series. One hundred and forty-three patients (3.7%) were positive to carvone whereof 138 patients had records available for review. Of the carvone-sensitized patients, 46.9% had suspected or previously diagnosed OLL and 8.0% had dermal or genital lichen planus. The majority of the carvone-sensitized patients had also positive reactions to several other allergens. The most common allergens were spearmint oil (39.9%), gold (35.5%) fragrance-mix (17.4%) and nickel (15.5%). The majority of the carvone-sensitized patients with allergy to gold (30/49) or allergy to mercury (16/18) also had OLL. The male-to-female ratio was 1:4.75 among the carvone-sensitized patients compared to 1:2.55 in the overall test groups. Conclusions: The frequency of patients sensitized to carvone seems to correspond with previous findings. Concomitant contact allergy to gold or mercury was often associated with OLL and these patients were often referred for suspected allergy from d ental restorations. The data together with conclusions in recent reports suggests a relationship between OLL and l-carvone contact allergy. The relationship is yet unknown and needs further investigation.