Current Understanding On The Manifestations Of Cancrum Oris- A Review

Abstract

Cancrumoris is an acute gangrenous stomatitis of oral and paraoral structures in the age groups between 2-16 years particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa with high morbidity and mortality.It is also known as Noma. The underlying causes for noma are primarily poor sanitation and malnutrition.Fusobacteriumnecrophorum and Prevotellaintermedia are the important bacterial pathogens in this disease process along with one or more bacterial organisms such as Borreliasp.,Staphylococcus aureus etc. It is often seen as a sequel to Acute Necrotising Ulcerative Gingivitis.The treatment of the bacterial organisms can help arrest the infection but cannot restore already missing or disfigured tissue. 40 articles were chosen from online databases like Pubmed and Google Scholar.The articles are chosen based on their relevance to the topic. Articles from other languages are excluded. Articles which are unrelated to the topic are excluded. The data are extracted from the articles based on their characteristics specified Noma is a debilitating disease which can result in the loss of daily speech activities.The government and health organizations need to take adequate steps to improve the social living conditions of individuals living in noma susceptible areas. Efforts should be made by medical professionals to provide early intervention and medical care to the patients so that mortality can be reduced and tissue destruction can be minimized.