Two cases of chemical burns in oral cavities

Abstract

Chemical burns of oral mucosa are relatively rare, mainly seen in the home and laboratory and limited to particular cases of accidentally taking chemicals into the mouth, misuse of medicine, suicide and so on.
In general, the effects of chemicals on the mucosa are determined by factors such as the kind of chemicals, concentration, amount, duration of contact, temperature and injured tissue.
We experienced two cases of chemical burns in the oral cavity from accidental taking alkali liquids into the mouth. In one case, he accidentally took ammonia water of unknown concentration.
Because of marked erosion of the tongue, he was treated with infusion and neutralization, and pain relief. In the other case, saturated KOH was taken into the mouth during a chemical experiment. After a while, erosion and ulcer resulted and in a month frenulum linguae adhered. Swelling of the oral floor like the ranula appeared after two months.
In chemical burns, tissue destruction begins after the latent period, and in spite of removal of chemicals, the destruction continues until the chemicals that penetrated into the tissue are either inactivated or completely disposed of. So it sometimes moves to Grade III of chemical burns as in the second case of this report.