title: Oral syphilis: a series of 5 cases.
abstract: Syphilis is an infectious, usually sexually transmitted, disease caused by Treponema pallidum, subspecies pallidum. Because of the increasing prevalence in Europe during the past few years, dentists could be confronted with patients with oral manifestations of syphilis. Because oral lesions are highly contagious, it is vital to make the correct diagnosis quickly to initiate the proper therapy and to interrupt the chain of infection. We present the cases of 5 patients with syphilis-related oral lesions. These cases are representative because of their clinical presentation, age, and gender distribution and the diagnostic approach. The aim of the present report is to emphasize the importance of the dentist knowing and identifying syphilis in different stages to diagnose the disease and institute treatment at an early stage.
authors.affiliation: Resident, Charité Centre 3, Department of Oral Medicine, Dental Radiology, and Oral Surgery, Charité Medical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: moritz.hertel@charite.de.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hertel
authors.affiliation: Resident, Department of Oral Surgery and Stomatology, University of Bern School of Dental Medicine, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Matter
authors.affiliation: Professor, Charité Centre 3, Department of Oral Medicine, Dental Radiology and Oral Surgery, Charité Medical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Westhausen
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Surgery and Stomatology, University of Bern, School of Dental Medicine, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bornstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007742:Labial Frenum / Q000473:pathology; D008046:Lip / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D009494:Neurosyphilis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D021362:Palate, Hard / Q000473:pathology; D010400:Penicillin G / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D013752:Tetracycline; D010400:Penicillin G; D011241:Prednisone