Swollen palate can be due to trauma, canker sores, infections, alcoholism, smoking and even cancer. In this article we explain them all.
The causes of a swollen palate are varied. From traumas that cause wounds in the mucosa of this part of the mouth to malignant processes that are expressed there.
Recognizing an inflammation of the palate in time to seek care is key. It will be the dentist who will finally determine the diagnosis and carry out the treatment, but in the meantime, it is important not to let the symptoms and signs that indicate the existence of a problem pass by.
In this article we are going to analyze what are the causes of a swollen palate and how they manifest themselves. Keep reading and find out all about the main aggressors of the roof of the mouth.
What is the palate?
The mouth is a cavity that is bounded by walls, a floor, and a ceiling. On the sides it closes with the cheeks and below with the tongue and the structures that are below it. In front are the lips and everything is covered with mucous.
The roof of the oral cavity is what concerns us now. It is the palate, an anatomical structure that has a hard portion at the front, in the area closest to the outside, and a soft portion at the bottom.
The hard palate has bone. Hence its name. But it is not a single bone tissue, but two elements combine on each side to provide support. They are the upper jaw and the palatine.
This hard part occupies the anterior two-thirds of the roof of the mouth. Behind, completing the posterior third, we find the soft palate, which has no bone and is made up of muscles.
In the union area of both palates is the middle raphe. It is visualized as a 2 centimeter wide line that is paler than the rest of the tissues. It is normal and should not be confused with an inflammatory process.
The end of the soft palate has the uvula or bell. This is an extension of soft tissue in the shape of the letter U that projects into the pharynx. It is supposed to have the function of preventing food from passing into the respiratory tract, acting as a cover so that substances do not ascend from the mouth to the nose.
Palatal rugae, also known as palatal rugae, are normal. Although in the human being they are not visualized as much, there are animals that have them more developed so that they participate in the chewing process.
Causes of swollen palate
Now that you know what the palate is like, we can address the causes of it becoming inflamed. It is a fairly common situation, which we can sometimes link to the fact of having had a hot drink, for example, but which on other occasions warrants a dental consultation.
As we will see later, the existence of other accompanying signs of inflammation is useful to distinguish one cause from the other. In short, given the persistence of swelling, the ideal is to make a consultation.
Trauma
A trauma is a physical aggression against an anatomical structure. In this case, we refer to any aggression that occurs on the hard palate or on the soft palate.
These are not intentional episodes. Most of them are related to the intake of hot liquids or food that has a surface capable of damaging the mucosa that covers the roof of the mouth.
Hot foods or drinks often swell the palate and cause blisters. It is a thermal aggression that damages the most superficial and soft layers of the mouth. Sometimes it appears only with an irritation that changes the color of the mucosa; while other times there is edema and tissue enlargement, meaning discomfort when swallowing.
Trauma from scratching the palate is rare. In any case, it is possible that we try to remove a piece of food stuck between the teeth or stuck to the palate with the nails, scratching the roof of the mouth.
Although the wounds will heal later, it is important to avoid these aggressive practices. Especially in diabetic patients, for example, who have difficulties healing.
Food trauma or scratching should not last over time as causes of a swollen palate. If there is a non-healing wound or inflammation that does not resolve on its own, then a dental visit should be scheduled for a detailed analysis.
Cold sores
Canker sores can start as an inflammation of the palate, before expressing itself with its characteristic form. These are benign and self-limited lesions. That is, the body is able to solve them in the course of a week, approximately.
The characteristic form we are talking about is that of an elevation of the oral mucosa at the beginning, which later becomes an ulceration, of little depth. The color is white and the edges, red, tend to acquire a circular or oval shape.
A single canker sore or several can occur at the same time. The most commonly affected areas of the mouth are the inner sides of the cheeks, lips, tongue, and gums. In any case, the mucosa of the palate is not exempt.
This is one of the causes of a swollen palate that is momentary. The inflammation will appear in the area that will later house the canker sore. When the sore is fully expressed, the diagnosis will be clear.
The causes of canker sores are not entirely clear. The most accepted theory is that various risk factors are combined at the same time to make their appearance. Among them we can mention the following:
- A trauma to the mucosa of the mouth, due to biting, due to dental treatment, due to the use of orthodontics, due to the ingestion of hot food.
- Hypersensitivity reactions to certain food products. Those that are most associated with sores are chocolate, spicy foods and red fruits.
- Lack of vitamin B12 or iron.
- Stress.
- Hormonal variations.
Alcohol abuse
Alcoholism has negative effects on almost the entire body. Specifically, in the oral cavity it is capable of being one of the causes of a swollen palate, in addition to increasing the risk of oral cancer.
One of the explanations for this phenomenon has to do with dehydration or loss of fluid and electrolyte balance. When you consume alcohol too much and frequently, you alter the regulations of the amount of water in the body. This is due to increased urination, with the consequent loss of water that is not replaced.
Dehydration can cause edema. That is, accumulation of fluid in the soft parts of the body due to the outflow of water from the circulatory system to the outside of it. In this way, the palate swells and increases in volume.
Palatal inflammation due to alcohol is not the most serious consequence in the oral cavity. As we said, alcoholism is a risk factor for the development of cancer in the mouth, including the palate.
Smoking
As with alcohol, smoking has deleterious effects on general health. In the mouth, its negative consequences are varied, from superficial aesthetic aspects to cancer.
A typical picture of smokers is nicotinic leukokeratosis of the palate. We also know it as nicotinic stomatitis. It is a benign condition that happens especially in people who smoke a pipe.
Patients present with inflammation of the hard palate. They are these white elevations that, when together, form the appearance of a cobbled street. In addition, red dots appear that correspond to the inflamed excretory ducts of the minor salivary glands of the palate. This determines the diagnosis if there is information that the person is a smoker.
Nicotinic leukokeratosis of the palate does not progress to cancer. In any case, you need smoking cessation to reverse the process and prevent other cancerous lesions in the mouth.
A less frequent problem, but of extreme care, is that associated with the habit of inverted smoking. This practice consists of inserting the lit cigarette upside down, with the tip lit inside the oral cavity.
This modality is in association with palate cancer. The risk of suffering from it is higher among women who smoke reverse and is significantly higher when compared to traditional smoking.
Stomatitis
Stomatitis is an inflammation of the mouth that can appear in any region of the mouth. This involves the palate. Although the term is somewhat nonspecific, it encompasses those infectious or autoimmune pathologies that share this presentation.
In stomatitis there is inflammation, pain in the mouth and even the presence of sores or ulcerations. The clinic with which it presents will depend on the underlying causal agent.
Herpetic stomatitis is one of the most common causes of swollen palate in this group of disorders. The culprit is the herpes simplex virus (HSV) that causes blisters inside the mouth; when they break, a very annoying ulceration remains that makes feeding and even speech difficult.
However, not only HSV is responsible for infectious stomatitis. The following are also among the etiological agents:
- Cytomegalovirus.
- Streptococci.
- Candida albicans.
For its part, autoimmune stomatitis is a process of thrush formation within the oral cavity as part of a larger clinical picture that responds to a systemic disease. Among the pathologies of the immune system that cause a swollen palate, along with other signs in the mouth, we have the following:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Reiter’s syndrome.
- Wegener’s granulomatosis.
- Sweet’s syndrome.
Palate cancer
Like all neoplastic processes, palate cancer is multifactorial. Several factors intervene so that the cells grow uncontrollably and originate a tumor.
The beginning of a cancer of the palate can be a swelling in the roof of the mouth that seems harmless. It is difficult to detect in this incipient stage, since you can confuse it with a trauma, for example.
They are broadly divided into cancers of the hard palate and cancers of the soft palate. The former are classified within head and neck neoplasms, since the bone plays a leading role in their genesis. The latter would be a variant of throat tumors.
Soft palate cancer represents up to 15% of malignant neoplasms of the oropharynx. It is suspected that its increased frequency of appearance has to do with the spread of the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which would be an initiating agent.
Most palatal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. That is, they have altered cells of the epithelium of the mucosa of the mouth. Together with genetic factors we can mention the participation of external aggressors, such as alcohol and tobacco.
Do I have to consult a professional?
You need dental consultation whenever you meet some criteria that make you suspect some of the severe causes of swollen palate. Let us remember that cancer is a possibility, as well as the oral manifestation of an autoimmune disease.
So, what you must consider is the presence of signs to the inflammation, its duration and the risk factors that accompany it. You should evaluate pain according to severity. Difficulties swallowing or speaking that last over time warrant a consultation.
Stomatitis or canker sores that last more than a week without healing or resolving on their own may indicate a compromised immune system. Likewise, you should not take lightly a palate swelling that does not diminish, but increases in size and even takes the form of a lump.
The dentist can diagnose some clinical pictures of the mouth with mere observation. Others require a biopsy. In this procedure, the dentist takes a sample of the tissue for examination under a microscope.
In one way or another, taking care of the health of the palate is part of the commitment to the mouth. Going to dental check-ups twice a year helps to detect any anomaly in time, even in the oral mucosa. Well, a healthy smile does not end only in the teeth.
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