Oral Lesions in Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease is a chronic ailment of the gastrointestinal or GI tract. Crohn's can affect any tissue from the mouth to the anus. When it affects the mouth, oral lesions result. Early oral lesions can look like small, shallow, discrete ulcers. Even though the ulcers are small, they can indicate more serious trouble somewhere else in the GI tract. During serious intestinal flare-ups due to Crohn's, the mouth can exhibit lesions like those that occur in the intestine. Oral areas that may be impacted include the lips, tongue, inner mouth and throat.

Appearance

• Like canker sores, the oral lesions in Crohn's are white, superficial and painful. They differ in that they are multiple, are persistent and involve the entire mouth.

Dental Care

• A dentist needs to check any mouth sore that lasts longer than a week. Frequent dental visits are necessary to prevent the destruction of impacted tissue and to evaluate the area to see if the tissue can handle further dental treatment.

Medication

• Treatment geared toward controlling the inflammation caused by Crohn's includes medication and nutritional supplements. Pain medication cannot include aspirin, ibuprofen or Naprosyn. These medications can worsen the effects of the disease.

Targeted Treatment

• In a recent experiment, according to medpagetoday.com, some oral lesions caused by Crohn's were healed within 10 weeks when treated with a biological agent called certolizumab pegol (Cimzia). The experiment showed promise because out of 66 patients, 4 were completely healed of their lesions.

Considerations

• Because smoking can have a detrimental impact on both the disease and mouth lesions, it is essential that the patient stop smoking immediately.