Intra Oral and Extra Oral Findings

When obtaining intra-oral and extra-oral findings it is important to maintain the same

sequence for each patient. During head and neck evaluation, most findings are what we could

feel while also assessing for abnormal lesions. Intra-oral findings are very common and differ

with each patient. Conversating with patients to see if they have noticed changes and evaluating

patient's health status can help correlate abnormalities with changes in a person's health.

Extraoral findings include lips, eyes, general appearance, thyroid, TMJ, and symmetry are

factors of extra-oral assessment. Intra-oral findings are performed by assessing the oral

pharynx, tongue, tonsils, hard palate, buccal mucosa, labial mucosa, soft and hard tissues, and

many more.

My paper on Sjorens syndrome was interesting to learn about. I feel for patients that

have health issues they cannot control such as improper function of the saliva glands. These

patients have to be seen more frequently for recall appointments due to a higher risk of caries

and periodontal disease due to severe xerostomia. It is also fun to learn specific tricks and tips

for these patients for oral care instructions at home such as chewing xylitol gum, moisturizing

mouth washes, and carrying around a water bottle throughout the day to prevent plaque and

biofilm buildup.

I also included a patient evaluation sheet that explained a patient who was 18 years old

and experienced chronic gingivitis and demineralization on multiple teeth. This patient was

working long hours at work and not taking care of himself physically and mentally. It is crazy

how a person's oral health can decline depending on the daily stress experienced. We ended up

prescribing this patient chlorohexidine to allow for the reduction of inflammation and bleeding of

gums. We also took a great amount of time to explain proper oral care instructions at home for

the patient to learn more about ways to reverse and stabilize their disease status.