Rare case of extrapulmonary tuberculosis masquerading as an intraoral sinus in association with a nonhealing extraction socket in a teenage girl—”A case report with Review of literature”

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease with significant mortality and most commonly affects the pulmonary system and rarely the oral cavity. Because oral tuberculosis is a rare disease, it is often overlooked in the differential diagnosis of oral lesions. Despite the recent decline in the incidence of tuberculosis, it remains a highly contagious and serious public health problem, thus requiring early diagnosis and rapid intervention. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is defined as any bacteriologically confirmed or clinically diagnosed case of tuberculosis (TB). A 17-year-old girl reported at the outpatient Department of Dentistry with the chief complaint of a swelling at the backside of mouth along with pus discharge. She noticed these symptoms approximately one month after the extraction of the left mandibular first molar. The patient was referred to the Department of Pulmonary Medicine for further investigation and treatment. Subsequently, diagnosis of EPOTB was reached on the basis of the histopathological findings and the previous personal as well as family history. Drastic improvement was observed in the general condition and a complete resolution of the oral lesion after four weeks of ATT and the patient was completely free of all the symptoms after six months of follow-up period. This case demonstrated the importance of oral manifestation of oral tuberculosis for dentist who may be the first healthcare provider to encounter a variety of oral lesions.