I Have Mandibular Tori

I had no idea what mandibular tori was let alone knowing I had it until about 10 years ago on a trip to the dentist. When the hygienist was taking x-rays of my mouth, she said "Oh you have those bony protrusions!" Really? Ok, whatever. Then the hygienist asked my permission to let a dental assistant look at my mouth so she could learn how to get x-rays on patients with mandibular tori. I said sure. I remember the dental assistant being very surprised to see my condition, and she even remarked "You read about these things is textbooks but you never think you'd actually see it!"

And that's when I learned how special I was for having mandibular tori.

What the heck is mandibular tori?

Mandibular tori (or torus mandibularis in singular form) is an oral cavity abnormality where hard bony lumps form on the inside gums of the lower jaw. The picture accompanying this article is of my mouth and you can see two bony protrusions sticking out on both sides of my inner gums. According to The Maxillofacial Center For Education and Research website, mandibular tori affects approximately 27 out of every 1000 people, and is especially common amongst people of Asian descent. Most cases of mandibular tori occur bilaterally.

What causes mandibular tori?

That's a hard one to answer, but according to Exodonti.info, a website specializing in surgical dentistry, mandibular tori may be due to local stress on the lower jaw which can be caused by teeth grinding (bruxing.) In fact, mandibular tori can grow throughout your lifetime.

Is mandibular tori painful or dangerous?

Mandibular tori is not usually a serious enough problem requiring medical/dental attention. I barely notice I have it. In some cases, people have painful mandibular tori or have such large protrusions that food can get stuck underneath them and cause irritation. In those cases, a person should consider seeing a dentist/oral surgeon for treatment.

What is the treatment for mandibular tori?

If you have mandibular tori and it is not causing you any pain or discomfort, there is no need for any treatment. You will need to see your dentist/oral surgeon if:

Your mandibular tori causes pain or gets injured when eating sharp edge foods like potato chips
Your mandibular tori is so large that food debris gets caught underneath them
You need dental implants

In general, the treatment for problematic mandibular tori is surgical removal of the protrusions. If you grind your teeth, a dentist may be able to fit you for a mouth guard to prevent more stress on your lower jaw and prevent the mandibular tori from growing and causing problems.

Sources:

Torus Palatinus & Torus Mandibularis, Maxillofacial Center Website: Thomas Bond's Book of Oral Diseases, 4^th edition

Exostosis and tori, Exodontia.info