Is it normal to have mandibular tori? Mandibular tori are somewhat uncommon, affecting about 27 out of every 1,000 adults in the United States. Mandibular tori are much less common than palatal tori. In addition, about 80% of people with mandibular tori have these growths on both sides of their mouth.
Mandibular tori are almost always harmless, but they can cause pain and irritation in the area around them or make it hard to chew or wear a dental prosthetic. In these cases, the growths can be surgically removed. In the meantime, people can treat any irritation in their mouths with some simple home remedies.
Torus mandibularis is thought to be caused mainly by environmental factors, such as bruxism, vitamin deficiencies and calcium-rich supplements, although genetic background also plays a key role. Clinical diagnosis is usually straightforward, and investigations are generally not required.
Did you know there's an oral disease that affects between 5 and 7 percent of the U.S. adult population? This condition is called Mandibular Tori, which causes pain and discomfort, and some of its symptoms are almost unnoticeable.
The prevalence of mandibular tori ranges from 5-40%. They are less common than bony growths occurring on the palate, known as torus palatinus. Mandibular tori are more common in Asian and Inuit populations. They are slightly more common in males.
The size of the tori can increase slowly and continuously through the life of an individual. If the tori has to be removed, surgery can be done to reduce the bone, but it may grow back again in cases where there is local stress, such as excessive forces from an unbalanced bite.
The size of the tori may fluctuate throughout life but they do tend to get bigger over time. In some cases the tori can be large enough to touch each other in the midline of mouth. Consequently, it is believed that mandibular tori are the result of local stresses and not solely on genetic influences.
They appear to be genetic. Tori can appear in groups of various shapes and sizes, or you can have a just one torus. If you have a torus on one side of your mouth, it's most likely that you'll have another one on the other side.
Tori typically develop during late adolescence and gradually increase in size throughout adulthood. When small, they rarely cause symptoms or pain and are usually an incidental finding during routine clinical or dental examinations.
Mandibular tori are very slow-growing, so much so that it can be challenging to identify what causes tori to grow. There is some evidence that bruxism can speed up the growth of tori. Diet may play a role in the growth cycle. Some tori also grow for a period of time, shrink, and then begin to grow again.
The average age for a torus to develop is between 30-40 years old3 although upper jaw tori have been discovered as early as the first decade in life4.
If the tori are found on your lower jaw, they are considered to be mandibular tori. Most tori grow to a certain point and stop growing. Most growth stops after our jaws have developed in our late teenage years.
Although the surgery is not necessarily more uncomfortable than a wisdom tooth extraction, the oral surgeon may need to use chisels and mallets to loosen the bone to remove it. Most patients are understandably uncomfortable with the image and feelings of this and prefer sedation.
They normally only need to be removed if a lower denture or partial denture needs to be constructed. As mentioned, these tori are benign in nature, so unless they are risk to your oral health, most clinicians will recommend just watching them over time.
Tori, or mandibular tori to give it its full name, are small growths of bone that tend to grow on the tongue side of our gums where teeth grinding is present. They are harmless but do indicate that the patient may be grinding their teeth.
Especially large tori can get in the way of proper eating. Chips, crusty bread, and other crunchy foods present real difficulty. Food particles may become lodged in the tori, causing discomfort or bad breath.
Can mandibular tori shrink? No, mandibular tori don't shrink over time. If you have dental tori that cause pain or hinder speech or chewing function, you'll need oral surgery to remove them.
Torus mandibularis (also called tori bone) are bony growths in the lower mouth. They are most often thought to be caused by genetics, stress in the jaw, teeth misalignment, teeth grinding, or environmental factors.
Similar to enlarged tonsils or adenoids, a large tongue, or an enlarged uvula, large mandibular tori can contribute to breathing obstructions, making one more susceptible to snoring and sleep apnea.
Oral tori mostly occurs in individuals with parafunctional habits like teeth clenching or bruxism. People with bruxism may have temporomandibular joint disorders or severe headaches due to the grinding of teeth. Most patients with tori have parafunctional habits and also suffer from migraine according to the research.
In most cases tori are benign and do not require treatment. However, tori will need to be surgically removed to accommodate upper or lower dentures and upper or lower partial dentures (flippers). Tori may also be removed to aid in minimizing food impaction under the excess bone, which will promote improved home care.
Tori are simply an abnormality; a random bone growth. They do not pose any immediate threat or harm once they have been identified in the mouth, though they do continue to grow over time, and have the potential to cause pain or discomfort if they become too large.
Tori can also make it difficult to have orthodontics put into place. Patients with tori formation usually need to have tori removal before they can get braces.
Discomfort: Slight swelling of the operated area is not unusual. Chapped lips or bruising of the lips / cheek area may occur. A reusable ice bag or a frozen vegetable bag, wrapped in a soft towel, may be applied to the area of surgery to help minimize the swelling of your face.
The growths can appear as single or multiple nodules in a range of shapes: regular or irregular, flat, spindle-shaped, or nodular. Inside your mouth, mandibular tori emerge on the backside of your lower gums – with the bony growths developing on either or both sides.