The mouth

The mouth is the common aperture to the aerodigestive tract. With the coordinated assistance of the tongue and lips it contributes to the formation of meaningful sound whilst the presence of intact dental arches allow for mastication. The oral cavity proper represents the atrium beyond the lips reaching to the palatoglossal arches posteriorly, where the oropharynx begins beyond the oropharnygeal isthmus. It is restricted by the cheeks laterally, the hard and soft palate superiorly and the mobile tongue resting on the mylohyoid muscle inferiorly. The paired major salivary glands drain into the oral cavity along with numerous minor salivary glands. The tongue is a thick, mucosa covered muscular structure concerned with mastication, taste, talking and swallowing. The palate is the roof of the mouth, separating the oral and nasal cavities and participating in speech and swallowing. It can be divided into two parts: a bony anterior hard palate and soft posterior palate.

Granular Cell Tumor of the Tongue: A Rare Case Presentation of a 14 Years Old Girl

Granular cell tumor or Abrikossoff ’s tumor is an infrequent tumor that can arise in most organs, and especially in the ENT area. It is a usually benign neoplasm, that can lead to a misdiagnose of malignancy. It affects both sex, between the fourth and the sixth decade. We present in this report a case of a 14 years old girl with a slowly growing lesion on the right lateral border of the mobile tongue. The biopsy showed a proliferation of large cells with a granular cytoplasm that expressed two immunohistochemistry markers: CD68 and S100 antibodies. Surgical resection was completed with a one centimeter margin.The rare issue about this case is the age of presentation: the age of the patient is 14, whereas this tumor usually affects adult patients.

Fractures of the mandible

The mandible forms the lower face and supports the teeth, the diaphragm of the floor of mouth, and the mobile tongue. It articulates with the skull base via the temporomandibular joints and is controlled by the muscles of mastication. Fractures of the mandible are common and require accurate reduction and stable fixation, particularly in the dentate patient. The anatomy, pathology, and management of mandible fractures are described in this chapter.

Recurrent schwannoma of the tongue in a pediatric patient—report of a rare case with an updated review of literature

Background Head and neck is a relatively common site of occurrence for the peripheral nerve sheath tumors, and majority of these tumors are seen involving neck, involving vagus nerve, and cervical sympathetic chain. Schwannomas involving mobile tongue are rarely encountered, especially in the pediatric population Case presentation We present a case of recurrent tongue schwannoma in a 13-year-old female successfully managed with transoral excision. At a follow-up of 3 years, no recurrence is observed. Conclusion Surgical excision is the recommended modality of treatment for lingual schwannomas, and when excised adequately, recurrences are not expected. A clear margin of surrounding normal tissue should be aimed for to avoid possible recurrence.

Comprehensive assessments of the open mouth dynamic maneuver and metal artifact reduction algorithm on computed tomography images of the oral cavity and oropharynx

Objectives To determine the optimal utility of the open mouth maneuver and Metal Artifact Reduction for the Orthopedic Implants (O-MAR) technique for CT of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Methods Between July 2017 and May 2019, 59 subjects who underwent both conventional and open mouth head and neck CT scans were included in this retrospective study. All images were reconstructed using the O-MAR algorithm. With conventional CT with/without the O-MAR (CTc_O/CTc) and open mouth CT with/without O-MAR (CTo_O/CTo), one reader measured the noise level in multiple anatomic regions of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Visual scores for the streak artifact and overall subjective image quality were assessed by two independent readers. Results For the mobile tongue, retromolar trigone, and palatine tonsil, the mean noise was significantly lower, and the mean visual scores were significantly higher, with CTo than with CTc or CTc_O (all, P < 0.001). The mean visual scores were higher with CTo_O than with CTo for the mobile tongue and palatine tonsil (all, P < 0.001). Contrarily, for the mouth floor and tongue base, the mean noise was significantly higher with CTo_O than with CTc or CTc_O, and the mean visual scores were significantly higher with CTc than with CTo or CTo_O (all, P < 0.001). Conclusions The open mouth maneuver and O-MAR technique can have different influences on the CT image quality according to the anatomical subsites of the oral cavity and oropharynx.