Mandibular tori are usually present on the tongue side of the jaw near the bicuspids ( also known as premolars). They usually – 90% of the time – occur on both sides of the mouth (bilaterally). Mandibular tori are not particularly common – about 5 – 10% of the population will have noticeable mandibular tori.
Is it normal to have mandibular tori? Mandibular tori are somewhat uncommon, affecting about 27 out of every 1,000 adults in the United States. Mandibular tori are much less common than palatal tori. In addition, about 80% of people with mandibular tori have these growths on both sides of their mouth.
Did you know there's an oral disease that affects between 5 and 7 percent of the U.S. adult population? This condition is called Mandibular Tori, which causes pain and discomfort, and some of its symptoms are almost unnoticeable.
Tori is not relatively common: currently, it is estimated that anywhere from 5-40% of the population have distinguishable tori present in the mouth.
The existence of torus mandibularis is not all too common — it's estimated that 12 to 25% of the adult population has these bony overgrowths in the lower jaw. People who have this tori mandibularis usually have two, but they can exist on their own.
Mandibular tori are more common in Asian and Inuit populations. They are slightly more common in males. In the United States, the prevalence is 7-10% of the population.
The prevalence of mandibular tori in the population can range from 5%-40% and is less common than tori on the palate. Tori has been shown to be more common in Asian, Native American, and Inuit populations.
They appear to be genetic. Tori can appear in groups of various shapes and sizes, or you can have a just one torus. If you have a torus on one side of your mouth, it's most likely that you'll have another one on the other side.
Treatment Options
Because mandibular tori are bone growths, you cannot get rid of them without surgical treatment from your dentist.
The size of the tori may fluctuate throughout life but they do tend to get bigger over time. In some cases the tori can be large enough to touch each other in the midline of mouth. Consequently, it is believed that mandibular tori are the result of local stresses and not solely on genetic influences.
Although the surgery is not necessarily more uncomfortable than a wisdom tooth extraction, the oral surgeon may need to use chisels and mallets to loosen the bone to remove it. Most patients are understandably uncomfortable with the image and feelings of this and prefer sedation.
Torus mandibularis is thought to be caused mainly by environmental factors, such as bruxism, vitamin deficiencies and calcium-rich supplements, although genetic background also plays a key role.
Mandibular tori are very slow-growing, so much so that it can be challenging to identify what causes tori to grow. There is some evidence that bruxism can speed up the growth of tori. Diet may play a role in the growth cycle. Some tori also grow for a period of time, shrink, and then begin to grow again.
Is mandibular tori caused by stress? The causes of mandibular tori are not fully understood, although environmental factors and diet are generally thought to be factors in developing these growths. Jaw stress is also related to tori growth, and emotional stress can be a contributor to jaw stress.
After tori removal, regrowth of the extra bone is very rare. In most cases, you will only need one surgery to remove the extra bone. There are cases where bone growth will recur, but these are rare, and are usually linked to genetic diseases that will require medical attention.
The estimate of the genetic determination of torus (VG/VP) turned out to be about 30%, whereas approximately 70% of the causes seemed to be attributable to environmental influence in terms of occlusal stress.
When the extra bone is found in your hard palate, it is called your torus palatinus. If the tori are found on your lower jaw, they are considered to be mandibular tori. Most tori grow to a certain point and stop growing. Most growth stops after our jaws have developed in our late teenage years.
Tori, or mandibular tori to give it its full name, are small growths of bone that tend to grow on the tongue side of our gums where teeth grinding is present. They are harmless but do indicate that the patient may be grinding their teeth.
In certain cases tori may contribute to plaque accumulation and periodontal pockets, and therefore will require removal to improve oral hygiene by allowing better angulation of the toothbrush. Once tori are removed, recurrence is rare. In situations where tori do reappear, regrowth is typically very slow.
Tori can develop in men and women with maxillary tori more common in females2. The average age for a torus to develop is between 30-40 years old3 although upper jaw tori have been discovered as early as the first decade in life4.
Similar to enlarged tonsils or adenoids, a large tongue, or an enlarged uvula, large mandibular tori can contribute to breathing obstructions, making one more susceptible to snoring and sleep apnea.
Due to laser technology, tori dental removal can be virtually pain-free.
Mandibular tori can be a painful condition that causes your throat and jaw to hurt, your gums to get inflamed, and even your teeth to come loose. Typically, these bony growths appear inside your mouth on the lower jaw. These growths often appear on both sides of the jaw.
Mandibular Torus: Found in the lower jaw, this growth is seen under the tongue. Tori mandibularis removal handles these unsightly bumps. Torus Palatinus: Also called maxillary torus, this mass grows in the center of the upper jaw or palate. The Waterlase tool makes torus palatinus removal recovery a breeze.
The growths can appear as single or multiple nodules in a range of shapes: regular or irregular, flat, spindle-shaped, or nodular. Inside your mouth, mandibular tori emerge on the backside of your lower gums – with the bony growths developing on either or both sides.