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Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Oct 15; 7(19):3341-3347. 3341
ID Design Press, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2019 Oct 15; 7(19):3341-3347.
https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.689
eISSN: 1857-9655
Review Article
Oral Ulcers Presentation in Systemic Diseases: An Update
Sadia Minhas
1
, Aneequa Sajjad
1
, Muhammad Kashif
2
, Farooq Taj
3
, Hamed Al Waddani
4
, Zohaib Khurshid
5*
1
Department of Oral Pathology, Akhtar Saeed Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan;
2
Department of Oral Pathology, Bakhtawar
Amin Medical & Dental College, Multan, Pakistan;
3
Department of Prosthetic, Khyber Medical University Institute of Dental
Sciences, Kohat, Pakistan;
4
Department of Medicine and Surgery, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Al-
Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia;
5
Department of Prosthodontics and Dental Implantology, College of Dentistry, King Faisal
University, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia
Citation: Minhas S, Sajjad A, Kashif M, Taj F, Al
Waddani H, Khurshid Z. Open Access Maced J Med Sci.
2019 Oct 15; 7(19):3341-3347.
https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.689
Keywords: Oral ulcer; Infections; Vesiculobullous lesion;
Traumatic ulcer; Systematic disease
*Correspondence: Zohaib Khurshid. Department of
Prosthodontics and Dental Implantology, College of
Dentistry, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa
Governorate, Saudi Arabia. E-mail:
drzohaibkhurshid@gmail.com
Received: 24-Apr-2019; Revised: 12-Sep-2019;
Accepted: 13-Sep-2019; Online first: 10-Oct-2019
Copyright: © 2019 Sadia Minhas, Aneequa Sajjad,
Muhammad Kashif, Farooq Taj, Hamed Al Waddani,
Zohaib Khurshid. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC
BY-NC 4.0)
Funding: This research did not receive any financial
support
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no
competing interests exist
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of oral ulceration is always challenging and has been the source of difficulty because
of the remarkable overlap in their clinical presentations.
AIM: The objective of this review article is to provide updated knowledge and systemic approach regarding oral
ulcers diagnosis depending upon clinical picture while excluding the other causative causes.
METHODS: For this, specialised databases and search engines involving Science Direct, Medline Plus, Scopus,
PubMed and authentic textbooks were used to search topics related to the keywords such as oral ulcer, oral
infections, vesiculobullous lesion, traumatic ulcer, systematic disease and stomatitis. Associated articles
published from 1995 to 2019 in both dental and medical journals including the case reports, case series, original
articles and reviews were considered.
RESULTS: The compilation of the significant data reveals that ulcers can be classified according to (i) duration of
onset, (ii) number of ulcers and (iii) etiological factors. Causation of oral ulcers varies from slight trauma to
underlying systemic diseases and malignancies.
CONCLUSION: Oral manifestations must be acknowledged for precise diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Introduction
The breach describes ulcerations in the
epithelium, underlying connective tissue or both [1].
The most frequent oral mucosal lesion that comes
across is oral ulceration [2], [3], [4]. Patients having
ulceration of oral cavity might report primarily to a
dental consultant or a general physician.
Ulcerations can be classified based on (i)
duration of onset (ii) number of ulcers and (iii)
etiological factors; ulcerative lesion lasts for two
weeks, is considered as the chronic ulcer. Acute ulcer
lasts for no longer than two weeks and is typically
painful [1], [5], whereas recurrent ulcers present with a
history of comparable episodes with irregular healing
and chronic ulcer may last for more than two weeks
[6]. The solitary ulcer is the occurrence of a single
ulcerative lesion, while the term multiple explains the
incidence of numerous ulcerative lesions [6].
Because of the variety of presenting features
and causative factors, identification of oral ulcerative
lesions may be relatively challenging. Local or
systemic factors can be contributing to developing
ulcers [1], [6]. Ulcers have different parts: the floor
(uncovered ulcer surface), the base (ulcer rest seat),
the margin (interface among the wall of ulcer and
normal epithelium) and the edge (the part of the