title: Thermal burn of palate in an elderly diabetic patient.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burns of the oral mucosa may be caused by thermal, mechanical, chemical, electrical or radiation injury. Clinically, these burns can produce localised or diffuse areas of tissue damage depending on the severity and extent of the insult. Most oral thermal burns produce erosions or ulcers on the palate or tongue.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case of palatal burn in a 66-year-old diabetic patient caused by drinking hot cereal is presented. The role of diabetes in causing oral mucosal dysesthesia that predisposed the occurrence of this burn is also discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Insensate palatal burn as a rare complication of diabetes mellitus is reported here. With the disease being more widespread now, its potential oral complications will be seen with increasing frequency.
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Craniofacial Clinical Care, Faculty of Dentistry, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sathya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kannan
authors.forename: Balamanikandasrinivasan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandrasekaran
authors.forename: Senthilkumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muthusamy
authors.forename: Preena
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sidhu
authors.forename: Nanditha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suresh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000209:etiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D019226:Oral Ulcer / Q000209:etiology; D010159:Palate / Q000293:injuries*; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000209:etiology
keywords: burning mouth syndrome; diabetes; oral health