Oral Ulceration
Oral Ulceration
- Last updated November 23, 2025
✅ Objectives
By the end of these revision notes, you should be able to:
- Understand what an ulcer is
- Know the various causes of ulcers
- Understand how to collect a thorough ulcer history
- Be aware of investigations that may be done for a patient with ulcers
- Know more about the management options for oral ulceration
What are ulcers?
Oral ulceration may be primary (occurring on their own) or secondary (occurring as vesicles first then turning in to ulcers).
Ulcers represent a break in the epithelium, which exposed the underlying connective tissue. The full thickness of the epithelium is typically replaced by a fibrinous slough, with. a mix of inflammatory cells.
Causes of ulcers
There are many causes of ulcers, which all present with different histories and have different methods of management. Oral ulceration may occur as a single or multiple episodes and may present as a single lesion or multiple lesions. Causes of oral ulceration include:
- Trauma
- Malignancies
- Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS)
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Anaemia
- Drug-induced
- Irradation
- Herpes infections
- Vesicular bullous disorders
- Lichen planus
- Erythema multiforme
- Behçets disease
Taking an oral ulceration history
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