William's rare mouth!

I was having a conversation last night about William’s rare mouth and through the discussion it was reminded that it was an interesting, even though rare, thing so thought I would take time to discuss it.

William has fused teeth; this is fairly common, especially in childhood teeth. Tooth fusion arises through the union of two normally separated teeth, and depending upon the stage of development of the teeth at the time of union, it may be either complete or incomplete.  He only has a few teeth that are joined together.

On appearance they look like they are coming from one place but under the gum they have two separate root bases; the top of the tooth appears to look like it has been chipped.

(look at the bottom left tooth and see what appears to be a 'chipped' V shaped tooth)

 

The second part of William’s teeth, again, is fairly common; he has and had several teeth with no enamel, which grew out like that. In some case the enamel can be worn off through cases of bad diet but sadly in William’s case his teeth were produced without it. This is usually down to a lack or shortage of a chemical.

When dentin (the layer of tooth between the centre and enamel), which normally supports enamel, is destroyed by a physiological condition or by decay, enamel is unable to compensate for its brittleness and breaks away from the tooth easily. This happened in the case of William; his tooth eventually snapped in half. From this exposure to gums and infections can subsequently occur and usually because there is a lack of protection against certain bacteria. Again, in William’s case, this happened and he ended up with an abscess in his mouth which needed to be treated and the tooth eventually removed.

(Was going to show a picture here but did feel that it may be a but squeamish for some so decided against it)

Now you are all probably thinking that this poor thing has gone through a lot already with his mouth but sadly his tale doesn’t end there and he has something quite rare!

William has a geographic tongue!

William has different patches on his tongue; each patch can be a different size or shape, hence the name as with the tongue fully out it looks like a map, on the upper surface and sides of the tongue. It may occur in other areas of your mouth, as well although doesn’t in his case. This is quite rare and actually only affects 1% of the world’s population.

 

(Funny side bit actually; the dentist was so shocked to see it that he actually left the room and went and interrupted his colleagues so they could come in and witnesses it before they missed it!)

You'll be relieved to know that geographic tongue is a harmless, benign condition that isn't linked to any infection or cancer. However; there are some very strange things about it:

•Vary in size, shape, and colour

•Appear one area and then move to another area

•Come and go or change very quickly in days, weeks, or months

Yes you did read that correctly it moves!!  And can change very quickly.

Geographic tongue occurs when parts of the tongue are missing layers of small bumps called papillae (this is actually where taste buds are). They normally cover the entire upper layer of your tongue; subsequently this does affect his taste buds and he can change what he enjoys eating. He can also become more sensitive to hot, spicy, dried, salty or acidy foods. (Even particular types of toothpaste) Although on a whole he doesn’t get any discomfort he has in the past mentioned that his tongue is hot and that he needs a drink. (This is a common side effect and reaction to having it)

So this is William’s rare mouth; interesting or disgusting? Would love to know your opinion!