Oro-facial aspects of leprosy: Report of two cases with literature review

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease affecting primarily the skin, peripheral nerves, respiratory system and the eyes. Leprosy induces various types of clinical presentation affecting the patient's immune response. Cell-mediated immunity is considered to be the crucial defence against the disease and the magnitude of this immunity defines the extent of the disease. The article presents two case reports of manifestations of leprosy in the oro-facial region, with a brief review of various other important oro-facial manifestations of leprosy. The first report deals with granulomatous nodules in the palate while the second report presents bilateral facial palsy in leprosy patients. Both the reports gain importance due to rare oral manifestation in a borderline leprosy patient in the first case, while the second case presents a rare bilateral Bell's sign. The role of the dental profession and especially the Oral Medicine specialist is of great importance in early diagnosis of oral lesions.