Oral Mucosal Colour Changes Flashcards
What are the causes of white oral lesions?
Hereditary- oral white sponge Naevus (genetic changes to cytokeratins)
Frictional- thickening of keratin layer, obstructs view to blood vessels giving more white appearance
Lichen planus- acanthosis (reduces visibility of vessels)
Candidal leukoplakia- inflammation within epithelium and connective tissue, thickness and fluid builds up reducing visibility of vessel
Carcinoma- thickening of cells
What conditions is lichen planus associated with
Lupus erythematosus
Graft versus host disease
What causes lesions to appear white?
Thickening of the mucosa or keratin
-> Less visibility of blood/vessels
Less blood in the tissues
-> vasoconstrictor effect- slowing of blood passage through connective tissue
What is leukoplakia?
A white patch which cannot be scraped off or attributed to any other cause
-> descriptor/diagnosis of exclusion
What is the risk of leukoplakia becoming malignant?
1-5%
-> risk is based on aetiology of white patch
What are fordyce’s spots?
Ectopic sebaceous glands
-> Benign and normal
What habit is associated with frictional keratosis?
Parafunctional clenching- pulling buccal mucosa in which rubs against cusps of teeth causing keratotic thickening and lack of view of blood flow (white appearance)
What causes smokers keratosis, what are its features?
Trauma caused by thermal gases
Thickening of tissues
mucosa remains normal but sometimes as a result of trauma, melanocytes over produce melanin (pigmentation changed- melanosis)
Malignant conversion potential is low (but general risk is higher due to smoking)
What are the features of White Sponge Naevus?
Starts in childhood in posterior of mouth then spreads forward
Familial
Not caused by trauma
What causes the appearance of WSN?
Fluid accumulates between epithelial cells in the superficial layers- increases opacity of tissue and disrupts visualisation of blood vessels
What would be the general features of a non-worrying oral lesion?
White lesions
Well defined (no inflammation surrounding)
Covering normal mucosa
What is idiopathic keratosis?
Occurs without obvious cause (genetic programming switches to produce more keratin)
-> still biopsy to confirm
How does desquamative gingivitis present?
Lichen planus areas- white, with areas of thinning- red vascular appearance
Why is biopsy of the gingival margin an issue?
Difficult- chance of ischaemia and tissue death (done by specialist)
What occurs as a result of a chemical burn in the oral cavity?
Coagulation of protein and damage to epithelial surface
What medications are associated with causing chemical burns?
Can happen with aspirin or alendronic acid (can be seen if patient has reduced cognitive function and does not swallow tablets)
Which habit is associated with traumatic keratosis?
Tongue thrusting
What happens as a result of hairy leukoplakia, what causes this?
Elongation on papillae on side of tongue and thickening of surface
-> Due to incorporation of Epstein bar virus into genetic code of the cell causing them to reproduce at faster rate and produce more keratin rich appearance