Erdheim Chester Disease and Its Impact on Dental Care: A Case Report

Erdheim Chester disease (ECD) is a rare histiocytic disorder that was recently acknowledged as a neoplastic disorder owing to the discovery of recurrent activating MAPK pathway mutations. The initial symptoms tend to vary, and the clinical presentation can range from asymptomatic bony lesions to multi-systemic, life-threatening disease. Although rare, lesions of the jaws have been reported in the literature has the higher prevalence of alveolar bone loss rending many individuals with this disease edentulous at a young age. The aim of this paper is to present the case of a 38-year-old male patient with ECD who presented with high dental needs, and to highlight the impact that the disease and the subsequent medical treatments can have on the oral cavity and the overall provision of dental care. Although the disease is rare, dental professionals should have an awareness of histiocytic disorders; this is to enable them to perform a risk assessment, devise pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative treatment modifications where appropriate.