Morphological changes of oral mucosa associated with inflammatory bowel disease
Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The morphology of microscopic changes in the oral mucosa associated with IBD has been studied by many researchers using different methods: microscopy, morphometry, etc. They have been found significant differences in the morphometric parameters of microcirculatory blood vessels and differences in the degree of hydration of the extracellular tissue space in CD patients. At the same time, macroscopic changes in oral mucosa are diverse and variable, which often complicates the differential diagnosis of oral mucosal lesions with comorbid IBD. It is important for dentists to be aware of this group of diseases because patients with IBD may have extraintestinal manifestations of the underlying disease in the mouth as well, and these may precede the appearance of signs of intestinal lesions by months or even years. In addition, the therapy used to treat this type of disease may also affect the provision of routine dental care.