Abstract

The oral tissues, for obvious anatomical reasons, are exposed to continuous mechanical and inflammatory traumatic insults. Both reactive and pure traumatic hyperplastic injuries have been dealt with in this chapter. Reactive hyperplastic lesions are tumor-like hyperplasias caused by a tumor-like non-neoplastic proliferation due to chronic irritative stimuli. The most common reactive lesions include morsicatio labiorum, buccarum and traumatic fibroma. Among the purely traumatic ones, hematoma, ecchymosis and mucocele (affecting the minor salivary glands) stand out. These lesions can be generalized to large areas of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity or localized as solitary neoformations. Furthermore, according to the clinical aspect, they can be divided into plain (e.g., keratosis), exophytic (e.g., mucocele and fibroma) and endophytic (e.g., traumatic ulcers). Reactive traumatic injuries often present diagnostic challenges because they mimic other pathologies of a non-traumatic nature.