Tongue Problem Basics
Though often hailed as “the strongest muscle in the body,” the tongue is actually made up of a group of muscles that allow us to taste food, swallow, and talk. A healthy tongue is pink and covered with small nodules called papillae.
Because you use your tongue constantly, it can be frustrating and uncomfortable when you experience tongue problems, including discoloration and soreness. There are a variety of causes for a number of common tongue symptoms. Fortunately, the majority of tongue problems are not serious and most can be resolved quickly.
In some instances, however, a discolored or painful tongue can indicate more serious conditions, including vitamin deficiencies, AIDS, or oral cancer. For this reason, it is important to seek medical advice if you experience any ongoing problems with your tongue.
Source: Medicinenet.com
Chronic Gum Disease
Why does the chronic stage of gum disease sometimes change to an acute and painful stage?Examples of toxic stresses are medical conditions like diabetes and AIDS, or chemical insults like synthetic additives in the processed foods most people eat every day.
The worst case scenario is when your immune system is so over burdened by toxic stresses, including the toxins from germs, that the germs in your infected gums can over whelm your immune system.
You can then end up with the symptoms of a painful gum abscess. By this time the nerve in your tooth is also infected, because the germs in your infected gums can pass through tiny pores in the root, called dentinal tubules, and into the nerve. Your tooth has become infected internally and externally, surrounded by abscessed, infected tissue which has replaced the jaw bone destroyed by the gum infection. Sometimes you will see pus and blood oozing from the gum margin of the painful tooth.
Now your advanced gum disease has arrived at the final acute stage of periodontal disease. Even if prompt dental treatment, usually with antibiotics, is able to reverse the acute symptoms so that they become painless and chronic once more, the acute stage will typically make its ugly head appear again sometime after using up the prescribed antibiotics. Worse yet is the fact that this can happen to more than one tooth in your mouth.
With such severely infected teeth in your jaw bone, your body can no longer successfully heal your jaw bone. Teeth with end stage gum disease are like a foreign body in your mouth. The likelihood of saving your teeth isn’t very promising. You ultimately lose teeth, either by having them removed by a
dentist, or they come out, usually when you are eating. Not a desired outcome for most people.
Source: drpgilbert.com
Oral Manifestations of HIV Disease
HIV-related oral conditions occur in a large proportion of patients, and frequently are misdiagnosed or inadequately treated. Dental expertise is necessary for appropriate management of oral manifestations of HIV infection or AIDS, but many patients do not receive adequate dental care. Common or notable HIV-related oral conditions include xerostomia, candidiasis, oral hairy leukoplakia, periodontal diseases such as linear gingival erythema and necrotizing ulcerative periodontitis, Kaposi’s sarcoma, human papilloma virus-associated warts, and ulcerative conditions including herpes simplex virus lesions, recurrent aphthous ulcers, and neutropenic ulcers.
Source: iasusa.org
Periodontal Desease and AIDS
In an HIV positive patient, serious periodontal disease might lead to the development of AIDS, although the likelihood largely depends on the individual’s physical strength. Periodontal disease is common and severe in patients with AIDS. When an AIDS patient has periodontal disease severe lesions will develop.