Isolated oral lesions as an uncommon manifestation of secondary syphilis: A clinical case

This study aims to report a clinical case of an isolated oral manifestation of secondary syphilis. A Caucasian 30-year-old female patient presented to a public oral health service in Southern Brazil, complaining of symptomatic oral ulcerative lesions without spontaneous regression for over 30 days. Intraoral examination revealed a larger lesion in the central region of the hard palate with confluent mucous plaques, resulting in "slug-shaped ulcers" surrounded by erythema, and smaller mucous patches with irregularly shaped, whitish fibrinous pseudomembranes in the region of the lower vestibular sulcus, near teeth 41, 42, 33, and 34. Rapid syphilis and VDRL tests confirmed Treponema pallidum contamination (titer 1:128). After 3 weeks of treatment with Penicillin G Benzathine, the clinical signs and titers significantly decreased. This case report underscores the importance of integrating and continually incorporating oral health care into public health, as dentists can diagnose and monitor many systemic diseases with repercussions in the oral cavity.