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Orofacial symptoms suggestive of malignant lesions and the role of imaging: literature review and case presentation

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Abstract

Among the patients seeking dental treatment, some may present with symptoms that cannot be resolved by dental treatment alone. Patients with orofacial symptoms associated with malignant diseases, which require medical treatment, often visit dental clinics for their initial consultation. Delays in making a definitive diagnosis worsen the patient’s prognosis. Therefore, dental clinicians should also be aware of the signs and symptoms associated with malignant diseases. The chief complaints of these patients include numb chin syndrome (NCS), painless swelling of the palate and neck, trismus and temporomandibular disorders, and an enlarged tongue. This article aimed to review these orofacial symptoms and related diseases and describe representative cases of these diseases to obtain a definitive diagnosis via imaging. Panoramic radiograph is widely used in general dentistry, and this article reaffirmed the importance of panoramic radiograph anatomical landmarks in diagnosing the cases presented in this paper.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Department of Oral and maxillofacial surgery and Oral Medicine of Tokushima University for the opportunity to diagnose.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tokushima Prefectural Hospital, 1-10-3, Kuramoto-cho, Tokusihma-shi, Tokushima, 770-8539, Japan

    Chieko Sugawara

  2. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan

    Akira Takahashi

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  1. Chieko Sugawara
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Correspondence to Chieko Sugawara.

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Sugawara, C., Takahashi, A. Orofacial symptoms suggestive of malignant lesions and the role of imaging: literature review and case presentation. Oral Radiol 39, 599–613 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11282-023-00701-x

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