Ranula On Floor Of Mouth Under Tongue

A ranula is a mucus extravasation cyst involving a sublingual gland and is a type of mucocele found on the floor of the mouth.

Ranula on floor of mouth under tongue. The floor of mouth is a horseshoe shaped area under the tongue between the sides of the lower jawbone the mandible. A ranula is a transparent retention cyst in the floor of the mouth arising from the sublingual salivary glands. If small and asymptomatic further treatment may not be needed otherwise minor oral surgery may be indicated. If a ranula stays in the mouth underneath the tongue it is called a simple ranula.

In other cases ranulas occur after trauma to the floor of the mouth like an oral surgery. It can also be found on the inner side of the cheek on the anterior ventral tongue and on the floor of the mouth. A mucocele is a cyst like lesion in your mouth most commonly found at the surface of the lower lip. A ranula is most commonly observed as a bluish cyst located below the tongue.

Mucocele under the tongue and other areas of the mouth can also come out as a result of blockage of the salivary glands. A ranula is a fluid collection or cyst that forms in the mouth under the tongue. Men are diagnosed with floor of mouth cancer three to four times more often than women. Ranulas arise either spontaneously or as a result of trauma to the floor of mouth including surgery.

If it grows down into the neck it is called a plunging ranula. When found on the floor of the mouth the mucocele is referred to as a ranula. They include lesions that arise uniquely in this location eg ranula submandibular duct obstruction as well as various malignancies inflammatory processes and vascular abnormalities that may also occur elsewhere in the head and neck. It is filled with saliva that has leaked out of a damaged salivary gland.

Occasionally they extend across the whole of the floor of the mouth. The cyst enlarges slowly penetrating the deep structures of the floor of the mouth above the mylohyoid muscle. Cancer of the floor of mouth accounts for 28 35 percent of all mouth cancers. A ranula can be classified based on its extent.

Ranulæ are usually either one side or the other in the floor of the mouth and 2 3 cm in diameter. A wide range of pathologic processes may involve the floor of the mouth the part of the oral cavity that is located beneath the tongue. Ranulae present as a swelling of connective tissue consisting of collected mucin from a ruptured salivary gland caused by local trauma. The most significant risk factors for floor of mouth cancer are tobacco and alcohol use.

Mucocele also known as a mucous cyst on the tongue are fluid filled sacs that usually result after an injury or trauma ruptures the salivary gland duct and leaks into the soft tissues of the mouth or in the tongue area. The structure is essentially the same as other mucocœles though there is usually an epithelial lining i e. They result from obstruction of a sublingual gland or adjacent minor salivary gland with resultant formation of a mucous retention cyst 1 5.