Differential diagnosis of superficial ulcerations of the oral mucosa

Superficial ulcerations of the oral mucosa often present a diagnostic challenge to the physician because of the similarity of one ulcer to another. A diagnosis is made by the analysis of multiple factors, including the lesion's location, size, grouping, onset, patient's age, involvement of other systems of the body, and course of the disease. The histopathology of the lesion may be specific, especially in certain potentially fatal diseases. This paper presents the means for the differential diagnosis of a variety of superficial ulcers of the oral mucosa: varicella, herpangina, recurrent aphthous stomatitis, Behcet's disease, Stevens Johnson syndrome, traumatic ulcer, verrucous carcinoma, primary herpetic gingivostomatitis, recurrent herpetic stomatitis, pemphigus vulgaris, and benign mucous membrane pemphigoid.