Clinical Characteristics of the Oral Mucosa of Patients with Red Lichen Planus, Depending on the Anatomical Location

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to state the clinical characteristics of the oral mucosa in patients with red lichen planus depending on the anatomical localization of the process. Materials and methods. Examinations and a complex of treatment measures were carried out on the basis of the department of Therapeutic Dentistry of the I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University and the licensed private dental clinic “DVM», Ternopil. 42 patients with red lichen planus were examined. The patients underwent a general clinical dental examination with the registration of indicators in the medical cards of the dental patient, form 043/y, and assessment of the state of oral hygiene according to J. C. Green, J. R. Wermillion, by objectifying the state of periodontal tissues based on index analysis in the modification of C. Parma. Results and discussion. The most typical places of lesions by this nosological unit are the cheeks along the line of teeth closure, the retromolar area. The papules are small silver-grey or white-grey in colour with a characteristic waxy sheen, which is most visible under side lighting conditions. Taking into account the regional features of the structure of the mucous membrane of the back of the tongue, the lesion elements are visualized in the form of plaques that merge into shapes and resemble rings and chains in appearance. When the process spreads to the gums, there is a tendency to an increase in the volume of the interdental gingival papillae and a change in the structure of the gums in the form of maceration and colour of the gums. Features of the clinical picture of the course of this disease on the red border of the lips in the form of a plaque reflect the regional anatomical and morphological features of the red border itself, namely the insignificant thickness of the epithelial plate and the submucosal base. The above-mentioned differences in the clinical picture of red lichen planus should be taken into account at the stage of applying the main clinical methods, as well as the topographic and morphological features of the structure of the mucous membrane at the stage of verification of the lesion elements by a dentist. Conclusion. It is advisable to take into account the visualized differences in the clinical picture of red lichen planus at the stage of application of the main clinical methods as well as the topographical and morphological features of the structure of the mucous membrane at the stage of verification of the lesion elements by a dentist. Thus, in this way, a wide variety of clinical manifestations, complex etiopathogenetic mechanisms of the development of red lichen planus, require a personalized, complex analysis based on an individual approach to each patient, taking into account the aetiology, clinic and regional features of the oral mucosa