Spontaneous exposition of a midline palatal torus

Abstract

Palatal torus, or torus palatinus, is a benign bone alteration that may cause some discomfort during phonation or swallowing. When its growth or persistent exposition produces unpleasant symptoms, it must be surgically removed. We treated an 82-year-old female patient who consulted for a painful ulcerous lesion she had had for a year and which produced halitosis and discomfort when swallowing. During the oral cavity physical exam we observed a hard protuberance on the midline. It showed a perforation and ulceration of the lateral posterior palatal mucosa on the left side. We considered the following diagnosis: palatal torus, osteoma, pyogenic granuloma, or a soft-tissue neoplasia. We decided to surgically remove it and to perform a histopathological examination. Clinical evolution was satisfactory with complete resolution one month after surgery. The histopathological examination showed hyperostosis along with chronic inflammation of the soft tissues and a simple hyperplasia of the mucosa, which in turn indicated a palatal torus. We report an unusual case of spontaneous exposition of a palatal torus which took up almost all of the hard palate area. Its resection is described and we inform the histopathological findings. In the literature review, we did not find a previous report of a spontaneous exposition of a palatal torus.