Although the mandibular tori are a non-cancerous outgrowth of the jawbone, they surely can get infected. The infection can harm your entire mouth, facial structure, and overall health. It requires proper treatment.
What causes infection in the mandibular tori?
Improper brushing
Brushing your teeth requires proper attention. Brushing your teeth with the mandibular tori requires special attention.
- Use a soft-bristled toothbrush that will be soft on the mucosa layer of your mouth. Although the mandibular tori are bony and non-tender, they are covered by a thin layer of skin. A hard-bristled brush can easily damage the skin, causing infection to the mandibular tori.
- Brushing between the tori is important. Often food particles get clogged in that area. They need to be removed to keep the spot fresh.
Deposition of food particles
The mandibular tori can be swollen at times. Besides, they may grow a few millimeters before stopping growing any longer. They can act as a pocket for food particles without your knowing it.
The food particles may rot and cause a foul smell in your mouth.
Most importantly, the pocket may house millions of bacteria that can cause severe infection in the mandibular tori and the surrounding area on the lower jaw.
The bacteria may even attack the base of your tongue.
Eating chunky food
Eating crunchy and chunky food may damage the membrane of the mandibular tori, thus exposing them to dangerous bacteria.
The mandibular tori are not a regular part of your chewing mechanism. You may often forget that they are there, especially because they are not painful and they grow slowly.
Heavy pressure on the tori may damage the membrane covering them and cause infection.
Eating acidic food
If you eat excessively-acidic food or eat an excessive amount of acidic food, you may cause infection to your mandibular tori.
Acidic food work against the PH level of your mouth. Losing PH encourages mouth bacteria to produce more acid to restore PH balance.
The acid can damage your mouth-skin and gums, causing infection.
Size of the tori
The mandibular tori in many patients can be large. They may not interfere with your chewing ability, but bacteria can build up around them.
A torus can have a 1×1.5 cm size. Research shows that a full-grown torus can be a few millimeters to a few centimeters in diameter.
Mouth hemorrhage
Mouth hemorrhage can complicate the presence of the mandibular tori on your jaw. It is not that the tori may start bleeding by themselves, but if you have injured your mouth while chewing food or wrestling, the tori may also be injured.
The injured tori can quickly gather bacteria and get infected.
What to do if your mandibular tori get infected
- Don’t irritate the infection. That will only spread the bacteria around.
- Rinse your mouth with salt water or saline solution. Mix half a tablespoon of table salt with half a cup of warm tap water to make your own saline solution.
- If the infection causes inflammation in your mouth, place a cold compress on it. That will reduce inflammation temporarily.
- If the infection is bleeding, bite on gauze to control bleeding. Do not rinse your mouth. Rinsing will remove the clogged blood and help continue bleeding.
- Do not consume tobacco or drink something with a straw before you receive treatment.
- Avoid eating hot and spicy food until the bleeding has stopped.
- See a dentist as soon as possible. You may have to remove your tori surgically.
An infected mandibular torus may cause swelling in your face. It may create redness inside and outside of your mouth. As a result, you may have difficulty eating food and speaking. Some infections may result in high temperatures.
None of these situations should be neglected.
If you do not find an appointment with a dentist in an emergency, call 911 for help. They will be able to direct you to the right dental clinic that might help you. Medical emergency centers in your area are not the right place to seek emergency dental treatment.
Can mandibular tori become cancerous?
Mandibular tori are not cancerous. They are only an abnormal growth of the jawbone, although a normal condition. They grow slowly and may interfere with chewing or speaking. Under certain circumstances, they may get infected. However, even after infection, there is no instance of their turning into cancer.
Can mandibular tori become inflamed?
Mandibular tori can cause inflammation in your mouth. However, their presence may not cause that inflammation. Their growth is so slow that you may not know you have them on your jaw. Besides, they are asymptomatic. But if they get infected by bacteria, they may cause inflammation in your lower jaw. The inflammation may surface with redness of the membrane, swelling, and difficulty opening your mouth.
How painful is a mandibular tori surgery?
A tori infection may be painful. However, if you decide to proceed with surgical removal of the tori, your dentist will numb them with local anesthesia. The anesthesia will cover the duration of the surgery, and you will not feel any pain. But you will ultimately feel discomfort when the anesthesia’s effect begins to subside. The pain may be controlled by taking any over-the-counter painkillers.
Sources:
- Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Dr. Mamta Malik, Dr. Sanjeev Laller, and Dr. Priti. Bilateral torus mandibularis: A case report with mini review. International Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Pathology. Accessed: Oct 3, 2022.
- Tanay V. Chaubal, MDS, Ranjeet Bapat, MDS, Kartik Poonja, MDS. Torus Mandibularis. The American Journal of Medicine. Accessed: Oct 3, 2022.
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