Oncology
Oral Cancer: Other Lesser Known Causes
Oral Cancer: Other Lesser Known Causes Jan 21, 2021
[caption id="attachment_9492" align="aligncenter" width="5200"] Absence of established risk factors like tobacco and alcohol does not completely eliminate a person’s risk of getting oral cancer.[/caption]
Many lesions can arise in oral mucosa due to chronic mechanical irritation/ trauma either from teeth or dentures. The most common lesions arising due to trauma are tongue/cheek biting, frictional keratosis and chronic traumatic ulcer.
Causes of trauma to oral mucosa
For the development of malignancy, it is usually a long term, repeated, minor injury which can be caused due to a number of causes. This injury can be caused by teeth, dentures or some inherent or acquired disturbances in dental alignment or occlusion.
- Sharp or broken teeth,
- broken restorations/ tooth fillings,
- ill fitting dentures,
- loose dentures are the most common causes for such injuries.
- Other causes can be a change in occlusion which leads to cheek, lip or tongue bite.
- Any non healing ulcer (which does not heal in two weeks) should be evaluated to rule out malignancy.
- Recurrent oral ulcerations have shown an increased risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma in nonsmokers and nondrinking individuals in studies.