Oral & Gastrointestinal Disease

Oral & Gastrointestinal Disease

Oral & Gastrointestinal Diseases
Dana Peoples
Microbiology
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to offer detail into the oral manifestation of gastrointestinal diseases. Included in this review is Chron’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and malabsorption conditions.
Keywords: Gastrointestinal disease, oral manifestation
Oral & Gastrointestinal Diseases
Lesions within the jaws, oral mucosa or perioral tissues may sometimes be seen as manifestations of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. The oral lesions may occasionally occur before the onset of GI disease, be present during the disease process or persist even after the disease has resolved. Sometimes the oral lesions are similar to GI lesions, while at other times, the oral changes are caused by systemic alterations secondary to GI disease, such as those related to malabsorption. The present paper reviews and illustrates the oral changes observed in selected GI diseases.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
As is the case with bowel diseases (1), the clinical distinction between the oral manifestations of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis may be blurred with overlapping clinical features. Nonspecific clinical changes such as dry mouth, halitosis and gastric reflux are seen (2), but these are neither diagnostic nor helpful in the differentiation of the two conditions. The microscopic presence of granulomas is considered diagnostic of oral Crohn’s disease in the appropriate clinical setting, whereas microabcesses of neutrophils and eosinophils without granulomas is considered consistent with ulcerative colitis in the appropriate clinical setting.
Crohn’s Disease
Dupuy et al (3) found that only 0.5% of their patients with Crohn’s disease developed oral lesions, and these patients were more likely to also have anal and esophageal lesions. There is a tendency for males and onset in youth. Occasionally, the oral manifestations may be the first indication that a patient has Crohn’s disease, but the oral lesions...

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