Morphology and morphometry of the human sublingual glands in mouth floor enlargements of edentulous patients.
Asymptomatic mouth floor enlargements may be observed in edentulous patients. These masses, which protrude from the mouth floor, may complicate the fitting of dentures and require surgery. Whether this "entity" may be considered an anatomical variation of the mouth floor or represent specific alterations in the sublingual gland is not known.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this work is to investigate the morphological and morphometric aspects of the sublingual glands of edentulous patients with mouth floor enlargements and compare the glands of these patients with the sublingual glands of human cadavers.


METHODS
Microscopic evaluation was performed on human sublingual glands from edentulous patients with mouth floor enlargements (n=20) and edentulous cadavers (n=20). The patients and cadavers were of similar ages. The data were compared using Mann-Whitney U, Fisher's exact and Student's t tests (p<0.05).


RESULTS
Acinar atrophy, duct-like structures, mononuclear infiltrates, replacement of parenchyma with fibrous/adipose tissue, mucous extravasation and oncocytosis were similar between the groups (p>0.05). Only the variables "autolysis" and "congested blood vessels" presented statistical difference between groups (p=0.014; p=0.043). The morphometric study revealed that the volume densities of acini, ducts, stroma and adipose tissue were similar between the groups (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The microscopic characteristics of the sublingual glands in mouth floor enlargements in edentulous patients correspond to characteristics associated with the normal aging process. The glands are not pathological and represent an age-related alteration that occurs with or without the presence of the mouth floor enlargements.
Aeronautical Central Hospital, Rio de JaneiroRJ, Brazil.
Josiane Costa Rodrigues de
JC
Sá
Maringá State University, Department of Dentistry, MaringáPR, Brazil.
Elen de Souza
Ede S
Tolentino
Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Departament of Dentistry, CuritibaPR, Brazil.
Luciana Reis
LR
Azevedo-Alanis
Maringá State University, Department of Dentistry, MaringáPR, Brazil.
Liogi
L
Iwaki Filho
University of São Paulo, Bauru School of Dentistry, Department of Stomatology, BauruSP, Brazil.
Vanessa Soares
VS
Lara
University of São Paulo, Bauru School of Dentistry, Department of Stomatology, BauruSP, Brazil.
José Humberto
JH
Damante
D061354:Acinar Cells / Q000473:pathology; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002102:Cadaver; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009060:Mouth Floor; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017154:Stromal Cells; D013361:Sublingual Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology*