The most abundant tea catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), has been reported to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in many types of cancer cells. In the present study, effects of EGCG on the growth of oral epithelial cells including CAL-27 oral squamous carcinoma cells and dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOK) were investigated. EGCG inhibited growth of CAL-27 cells and DOK with $IC_{50}$ of 14.4-21.0 and 5.8-14.2 ${mu}M$ after 24 and 48 hr incubation, respectively. EGCG was significantly less effective in inhibiting DOK growth. The effects of EGCG, however, were dramatically less pronounced in the presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase. Inhibitory effects of EGCG on CAL-27 cell growth were also much less pronounced in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS). EGCG induced caspase-3 activation in both CAL-27 and DOK cells in a serum free condition without SOD/catalase; in the presence of 10% FBS and SOD/catalase, EGCG, even at 100 ${mu}M$, did not affect cell growth. The present results indicate that EGCG inhibited oral cell growth with higher potency to more malignant CAL-27 cells than DOK, and the effects were markedly altered by SOD/catalase and serum content in media.