Purpose: To retrospectively analyse the frequency and distribution of various biopsied lesions of the gingiva among patients attending a dental teaching institution in Karnataka state in India. Materials and Methods: Data collected from 153 gingival biopsies referred to the Department of Oral Pathology, Yenepoya Dental College in Mangalore, Karnataka state, India during a 5-year period from 2004-2008 were utilised for the purpose of this study. Lesions were categorised by their type and analysed for age, sex and location. Results: Non-neoplastic lesions accounted for 51% while neoplastic and potentially malignant lesions accounted for 49% of the lesions. The most common non-neoplastic lesion was pyogenic granuloma (42.3%), the most common benign neoplasm was fibroma (34.5%) and the most common malignant lesion was squamous cell carcinoma (82.6%). Among all the lesions, the most common was squamous cell carcinoma (24.8% of all the lesions). Conclusions: Unlike in previous studies, squamous cell carcinoma was the most common gingival lesion. The proportion of malignant and potentially malignant lesions was also higher among subjects in the present study than in other populations. Hence, public oral health programmes need to be formulated to better tackle the burden of these diseases. Keywords: fibroma, gingiva, neoplasms, pyogenic granuloma, squamous cell carcinoma