Non-Healing Chronic Traumatic Ulcer, an Entity That Can Resemble Other Chronic Ulcers

Traumatic ulcer commonly occurs in the oral cavity, resulting in the loss of the entire epithelium. Traumatic ulcers often appear to mimic other lesions of the oral mucosa but the causative factors and other characteristic features rule out the differential diagnosis. It may have a similar appearance to some oral ulcer lesions such as traumatic ulcer granuloma with stromal eosinophilia (TUGSE) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

To identify traumatic ulcers from other chronic lesions such as TUGSE and OSCC.

First case, a 63-year-old female complained of pain on the right side of the tongue for 4 months. Intraoral examination showed a painful single ulcer, mild keratosis white halo, and induration on the right lateral of the tongue. The second case, a 38-year-old male complained of pain on the left side of the tongue for 2 months. Intraoral examination showed a painful single ulcer, mild keratosis white halo, and induration on the left lateral of the tongue. In both cases, there were some retained roots where the ulcer was located, and due to its contact with lateral of the tongue and the appearance of the lesion, we got a provisional diagnosis of traumatic ulcer.

These ulcers had a visual appearance similar to OSCC and TUGSE, so eliminating etiological factors and a comprehensive treatment plan were needed. We planned to extract teeth close to the lesion that was suspected to be the etiology of traumatic ulcer. We also prescribed 0.1% triamcinolone acetonide in orabase to improve healing. One week later, the ulcer in both patients had healed.

Recognition of traumatic ulcer characteristics is crucial in eliminating local factors to get rid of any differential diagnosis.