Palatal and mandibular tori: diagnosis, clinical significance and conceptual basis

Alberto Consolaro, Renata Bianco Consolaro, Omar Hadaya, Ingrid Araújo de Oliveira, Dario Augusto Oliveira Miranda

Palatal and mandibular tori are developmental disorders classified as morphological abnormalities of late palatal and mandibular growth and maturation. Familial cases and persistence in older and edentulous individuals suggest a genetic origin, which is just beginning to be unraveled. The interpretation of tori as an adaptive response to occlusal overload, bruxism and other external factors seems inadequate, because tori are not adaptive hyperplasia or hypertrophies. Tori are bony protuberances without a fibrous capsule, which distinguishes them from osteomas and indicates that they do not have any type of malignant or benign neoplastic nature, which is primarily confirmed by the fact that their growth is not continuous or uncontrolled. Torus size stabilizes at the end of maxillary growth, around the age of 22 to 24 years. Tori are masses of normal bone in terms of function and structure, and may be used as a harvest site for autogenous bone grafts to be used in other sites, or as the placement site for osseointegrated implants, if these procedures are clinically convenient. They may be removed if they interfere with any dental treatment.

Keywords: Torus. Palatal torus. Mandibular torus. Anomalies.

How to cite: Consolaro A, Consolaro RB, Hadaya O, Oliveira IA, Miranda DAO. Palatal and Mandibular Tori: diagnosis, clinical significance and conceptual basis. J Clin Dent Res. 2019 May-Aug;16(2):134-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14436/2447-911x.16.2.134-155.bes

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