Oral medicine: 11. lumps and swellings: mouth

Specialist referral may be indicated if the Practitioner feels:

Lumps and swellings in the mouth are common, but of diverse aetiologies (Table 1) and some develop into ulcers, as in various bullous lesions (Article 2) and in malignant neoplasms (Article 3).

Many different conditions, from benign to malignant, may present as oral lumps or swellings (Table 1) including: Developmental: unerupted teeth, and tori–congenital bony lumps lingual to the mandibular premolars (torus mandibularis; Figure 1), or in the centre of the palate (torus palatinus; Figure 2) are common causes of swellings related to the jaws (Article 13).

Inflammatory: dental abscess is one of the most common causes of oral swelling. However, there is a group of conditions characterized by chronic inflammation and granulomas, which can present with lumps or swellings. These, include Crohn's disease, orofacial granulomatosis (OFG), and sarcoidosis, which are discussed below.