The Multiple Etiologies of Angular Cheilitis
Angular cheilitis is also known as perlèche, from the French word pourlécher, meaning to lick one’s lip.1 Sometimes, in various publications, angular cheilitis is referred to as angular stomatitis. The entity has been described for centuries, and for some individuals, the clinical characteristics may be described as chronic in nature. Reports have listed chronic health conditions such as diabetes, vitamin deficiency, and systemic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, Sjögren’s syndrome, xerostomia, and human immunodeficiency virus as known precursors.1
Angular cheilitis is characterized as an inflammatory condition that affects the commissures of the mouth, causing a break in the tissues with redness, crusting, and scaling. This is often compounded by the accumulation of saliva in the fissures (figure 1). Angular cheilitis can be an ongoing problem for some patients until the etiology is determined...
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Angular cheilitis is characterized as an inflammatory condition that affects the commissures of the mouth, causing a break in the tissues with redness, crusting, and scaling. This is often compounded by the accumulation of saliva in the fissures (figure 1). Angular cheilitis can be an ongoing problem for some patients until the etiology is determined...
Click Here to Read More