Education may very well be the most important part of our role as your oral health advocates. Offering a wide variety of services is something we’re proud to do, but without knowing how to care for your smile, even high-quality dental work can fail.
Unusual shapes and growths can be alarming anywhere in the body. If you’ve noticed hard bumps growing in your mouth, you might have oral tori.
What is Oral Tori? Tori (or a single torus) are bumps in the mouth made of bone tissue covered by gum tissue. They grow slowly, and some people have them without ever noticing them! There are three kinds of tori, each named differently based on their location:
Buccal exostoses: tori on the back, upper gums, and on the cheek side
Maxillary/palatal tori: on the roof of the mouth
Mandibular lingual tori: on the lower jaw, under the tongue
Tori is more common among males than females. (Although palatal tori are twice as likely to occur in women as in men.) They appear to be genetic. Tori can appear in groups of various shapes and sizes, or you can have just one torus. If you have a torus on one side of your mouth, you’ll likely also have another one on the other side.
Tori have been referenced and studied for at least 100 years, but truth be told, we don’t understand what causes them. Some dentists believe that people who grind their teeth and clench their jaw are more likely to develop tori. Others believe that tori results from facial or jaw injuries or trauma.
Are Tori Dangerous?
Tori is considered normal and harmless. Phew! Tori may, however, get in the way of dentures or orthodontics in some cases. Or they may grow to a point and touch in the middle of the mouth. In these cases, your dentist may recommend treatment and removal to ensure optimum comfort and function. So long as they don’t interfere with your daily life and your ability to eat, speak, or care for your oral health, Tori is not a problem.
Tori should not hurt, but they can get injured if you accidentally scrape them while eating. If this happens, keep the wound clean with mouthwash or a saline rinse to prevent infection.
Although they are extra growths, tori are not cancerous. Signs of oral cancer include sores, thickening oral tissues, unexplained bleeding or numbness, trouble swallowing, and a change in how your dentures fit. If you have any concerns about oral cancer, you should see us today for an oral cancer screening.
Treating Tori
Your Arlington dentist will monitor the Tori shape and size and how they affect your general health. In the rare case that you do need the tori to be removed, your dentist or oral surgeon will perform an oral surgery procedure. The oral surgeon will expose the bone tissue, remove it, and level the mouth surface. As with any surgery, you’ll be sore for a while afterward, and you’ll see the dentist about a week later for a post-op checkup.
The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
Unusual shapes and growths can be alarming anywhere in the body. If you’ve noticed hard bumps growing in your mouth, you might have