Oral Ulcers-Needs to eyeball them

04:33 dental problem, etiology, oral ulcers, treatment of oral ulcers 1 Comment

History of ulcers:-

Duration, onset, location, if pain is present,aggravation and remission, radiation, discharge-purulent?

On clinical examination:

How do they appear[Shape],tender?,soft base/hard-indurated

If the ulcer persists for longer duration then we call it chronic ulcer and in that case....duration,onset,content of the ulcer-slough/healing,no.,location,associated with other symptoms,chronic irritation from tooth,cause of ulcer-trauma-[mechanical,chemical, thermal changes], infection,medicinal side effect, post dental treatment or during dental treatment from caustic agents, neoplastic, immune disease, deficiencies, allergic response should be asked.

If the ulcer is painful it reveal that it could be traumatic,infectious[acute], aphthous ulcer minor[if more in no.] and if one single large,deep ulcer is present then it could be apthous major, herpetic or ulcer with viral etiology have a history of rupture of fluid filled vesicles that ruptured to form ulcers.

ulcer of neoplastic origin are often associated with history of tobacco/ chronic irritation from dentures[materialused in prosthesis might leach out and liberate free radical which are cancerous]

Any ulcer should not be left unnoticed as chronicity will increase with time.Any ulcer not healing within 2 weeks need to seek immediate attention of dentist.

Before starting the management of any disease ,the diagnosis is crucial for the prognosis, so thorough history, examination and investigation like culture [microbiological test], biopsy must be done as and when required.

Its better to be sure about the disease you are treating.