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Self-inflicted Tongue Ulceration in a Patient with Tourette Syndrome: A Case Report

이꽃님 1 김미애 1 Inkyung Hwang 1 박지현 1 Yonjoo Mah 2

1이화여자대학교 의과대학 목동병원 소아치과학교실
2이화여자대학교 의학전문대학원 치과학교실

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Tourette’s syndrome is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of vocal and multiple motor tics. Tics are defined as brief, intermittent, repetitive, unpredictable, purposeless, and stereotyped movements or sounds. Some patients experience physical pain from intense and complex tics. In addition, motor tics can result in self-injury which is a common feature of Tourette’s syndrome. A 9-year-old boy was referred by the department of neuropsychiatry because of a severe tongue laceration. His parents reported that he had been biting his tongue irregularly for 2 months before referral and suffered from an intense burning sensation. The repeated biting resulted in ulcers on the tongue, which quickly worsened and led to progressive difficulty chewing and swallowing food. We offered to give him a two-piece removable appliance to limit tongue biting; it was made of soft silicone and fitted to both the maxillary and mandibular arches. As we emphasized that the device could help alleviate his pain, he agreed to accept it and adapted well. Just 3 weeks later, his tongue lesions had healed significantly.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.