Keywords
Abstract
The oral mucosa is characterized by a number of distinctive features. It is in close proximity to vital organs, endocrine glands, lymph nodes; serves as a cover of the "entrance gate" for the digestive tract and respiratory tract; it is intensively innervated, supplied with blood, moistened, and very quickly renewed. Therefore, this mucous layer, which is extremely sensitive to any physiological, hormonal, biochemical changes in the body, can serve as a reliable early indicator of a pathological process that sometimes begins in a completely different zone and system. Moreover, it is the specific changes in the oral mucosa, detected, for example, during a dental examination or treatment, that often turn out to be the first and at that time the only sign of a particular disease, sometimes formidable and severe, but progressing asymptomatically up to a certain stage.
The oral mucosa is characterized by a number of distinctive features.
It is in close proximity to vital organs, endocrine glands, lymph nodes; serves as a cover of the "entrance gate" for the digestive tract and respiratory tract; it is intensively innervated, supplied with blood, moistened, and very quickly renewed. Therefore, this mucous layer, which is extremely sensitive to any physiological, hormonal, biochemical changes in the body, can serve as a reliable early indicator of a pathological process that sometimes begins in a completely different zone and system. Moreover, it is the specific changes in the oral mucosa, detected, for example, during a dental examination or treatment, that often turn out to be the first and at that time the only sign of a particular disease, sometimes formidable and severe, but progressing asymptomatically up to a certain stage.