title: Differential diagnosis and management of oral ulcers.
abstract: The diagnosis and treatment of oral lesions is often challenging due to the clinician's limited exposure to the conditions that may cause the lesions and their similar appearances. While many oral ulcers are the result of chronic trauma, some may indicate an underlying systemic condition such as a gastrointestinal dysfunction, malignancy, immunologic abnormality, or cutaneous disease. Correctly establishing a definitive diagnosis is of major importance to clinicians who manage patients with oral mucosal disease. Some of these diseases are infectious; however, most are chronic, symptomatic, and desquamative. Treatment and management requires an understanding of the immunopathologic nature of the lesion. This review will address how to differentiate and diagnose varying types of oral ulcers and provide a treatment strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Texas, Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orofacial Sciences, University of California at San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Katina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Landon
authors.affiliation: Department of Orofacial Sciences, University of California at San Francisco, California, USA. daniel.ramos@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ramos
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D019226:Oral Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: epithelium; mucous membrane pemphigoid; oral; pemphigus vulgaris; squamous cell carcinoma; ulcers