Mandibular tori

Palatal tori

Definition

Mandibular tori and/or exostosis are phenomenon related to the cortical bony surface of the mandible. These are benign lesions of bone in the mandible along the surface nearest to the tongue.

They are usually present near the premolars and above the location of the mylohyoid muscle’s attachment to the mandible. Mandibular tori are usually bilateral. For the most part they occur below the root apices and are not commonly found in alveolar bone.

A similar phenomenon occurs in the maxilla, known as palatal tori. These are typically located in a mid-palatal location near the posterior hard palate. Since they do not extend toward the teeth, they are usually of no consequence for clear aligner treatment.

Causes

Mandibular tori, palatal tori and exostosis have no clear cause, although some have speculated that these are reactive phenomenon in response to local stresses in situations such as heavy occlusion or clenching and bruxism.

As the clinician you should be on the alert for heavy occlusion and bruxism as these situations tend to impair tooth movement and produce excessive wear on the occlusal surface of the aligner.

Solutions

These phenomena do not pose as a limit for orthodontic tooth movement.