Chapter 16: Head and Neck Flashcards
Focal demineralization of enamel and dentin by acidic metabolites of fermented sugar produced by bacteria
Dental caries (tooth decay)
What is the most common cause of tooth loss before age 35?
Dental caries
What are some complications associated with Dental caries?
pain that interferes with daily living
weight loss
life threatening infections
What is a sticky, colorless biofilm that collects between the surface of the teeth?
Plaque
Plaque buildup beneath the gum line causes what condition?
What happens if plaque is not removed?
Gingivitis
Can mineralize to form calculus (tartar)
What is the reversible inflammation of the squamous mucosa and soft titssue around the teeth and is most common in adolesence?
Gingivitis
How does gingivitis contribute to dental caries formation?
bacteria in the plaque release acids from sugar rich foods eroding enamel surface
Inflammatory process affecting the supporting structures of the teeth (peridontal lig.), alveolar bone, and cementum, and can progress to tooth falling out?
Periodontitis
What are the normal class of bacteria that colonize healthy gingival sites?
Facultative gram positives
Change in oral flora —> ________ + ________ = periodontitis
What organisms predispose to periodontitis?
Change in oral flora —> anaerobic + microaerophilic G (-) = periodontitis
aggregibacter, porphyromonas and pervotella
Which systemic diseases are associated w/ Periodontitis?
- AIDS
- Leukemia
- Chron disease
- DM
- Down syndrome (high risk for leukemia)
- Sarcoidosis
- Dz asso. w/ defect in neutrophils (Chediak-Higashi, agranulocytosis, and cyclic neutropenia)
Which diseases can periodontal infections be the origin for?
- Infective endocarditis
- Pulmonary and Brain abscesses
Which inflammatory lesion is typically found on the gingiva of children, young adults, and pregnant woman (pregnancy tumor)?
Pyogenic granuloma
Which test is diagnostic for Acute Herpetic Gingivostomatitis?
What are you looking for?
- Tzanck test, microscopic examination of the vesicle fluid
- Presence of multinucleate polykaryons (giant cells) or eosinophilic intranuclear viral inclusions
Which infection produces a characteristic dirty white, fibrinosuppurative, tough, inflammatory membrane over the tonsils and retropharynx?
Diptheria
Which infection produces spotty enanthema in the oral cavity often preceding a skin rash; ulcerations on the buccal mucosa about Stensen duct producing Koplik spots (small red lesions w/ blue-white centers)?
Measles
Which 3 hematologic disorders may present w/ oral changes?
1) Pancytopenia (agranulocytosis, aplastic anemia)
2) Leukemia
3) Monocytic leukemia
Hairy leukoplakia is caused by what virus?
Found where in oral cavity?
- EBV
- Lateral border of the tongue
Which oral lesion is characterized by a distinct microscopic appearance consisting of hyperkeratosis and acanthsosis with “balloon cells” in the upper spinous layer?
Hairy leukoplakia
Until proven otherwise, all leukoplakias must be considered __________.
Precancerous
What are the histological changes of the epithelium seen with erythroplakia?
Severe dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, or minimally invasive carcinoma
Around 95% of the cancers of the head and neck are of which type?
Remainder largely consists of which type?
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) = majority (95%)
- Adenocarcinomas of salivary gland origin = remainder
In the oropharynx, as many as 70% of SCCs, particularly those involving the tonsils, base of the tongue, and the pharynx, harbor what?
- Oncogenic variants of HPV
- Particularly HPV-16
What is the prognosis (5-year survival rate) of the “classic” (smoking and alcohol related) early-stage SCC?
Late stage?
- Good (80%)
- Drops to 20% for late-stage disease
Which observation associated with tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract has led to the concept of “field cancerization?”
Development of multiple primary tumors is more common here than any other malignancy
What is the basis of “Field Cancerization?”
Multiple individual primary tumors develop independently in the upper aerodigestive tract as a result of years of chronic exposure of the mucosa to carcinogens
Which genetic mutations are commonly associated with the “classic - tobacco/alcohol” SCC subset?
- Frequently involve p53
- p63 and NOTCH1
What is typically overexpressed in HPV-associated SCC’s?
Other common genetic alterations?
- p16 (cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor) = overexpressed
- p53 inactivation –> E6
- RB inactivation –> E7
Apthous ulcers (canker sores) tend to be more prevalent in and associated with what disorders?
- IBD
- Celiac disease
- Behcet disease
What characterizes the initial infiltrate of aphthous ulcers?
What characterizes the infiltrate of apthous ulcers due to a secondary bacterial infection?
Mononuclear
Neutrophilic
What is the morpholgy of peripheral ossifying fibroma?
Peak incidence in whom?
Treatment of choice?
- Red, ulcerated and nodular lesions of gingiva
- Increased incidence in young/teenage females
- Complete surgical exicison down to periosteum
Which form of Oral Candidiasis (Thrush) is the most common?
How does it appear in the oral cavity?
- Pseudomembranous form
- Superficial, gray to white inflammatory membrane, that can be readily scarped off
What is the typical age of onset and sex most affected by leukoplakia and erythroplakia?
- Age 40-70
- M:F (2:1)
Actinic radiation (sunlight) and pipe smoking are known predisposing factors for what type of oral cancer?
SCC of the lower lip
How does an HPV (+) vs. HPV (-) SCC affect the prognosis?
- HPV (+) = BETTER prognosis if p16+
- HPV (-) = worse prognosis
How does the progression of oral SCC differ from that of cervical cancer?
- Oral SCC may invade underlying CT stroma before progression to full-thickness dysplaisa (carcinoma in situ)
- In cervical cancer, carcinoma in situ, develops before invasion
What are the 5 favored locations in the oral cavity for the development of SCC?
- Ventral surface tongue
- Floor of mouth
- Lower lip (associated w/ sun exposure and pipe smoking)
- Soft palate
- Gingiva
What is the morphology of oral SCC in the early stage?
Raised, firm, pearly plaques or irregular, roughened or verrucous areas of mucosal thickening –> may look like leukoplacia