MTAR

• Mouth and throat health issues

  • Mouth sores/lesions (aphthous stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontitis, hyperplasia)
  • Difficulty/painful swallowing (dysphagia, odynophagia)
  • Sore throat
  • Hoarseness
• Past health history related to mouth and throat

  • Oral surgeries
  • Treatments/medications
• Family health history related to mouth and throat

  • History of mouth or throat cancer
• Lifestyle and health practices related to mouth and throat

  • Smoking/tobacco use
  • Drinking alcohol
  • Bruxism (teeth grinding)
  • Last dental examination
  • Oral care
  • Dietary intake
• Equipment for mouth and throat examination


  • Nonlatex gloves
  • 4x4 in. gauze pad
  • Penlight
  • Tongue depressor
• Mouth and throat inspection and palpation

  • Lips (consistency, moisture, color)
  • Teeth (number, color, condition, repairs)
  • Buccal mucosa (leukoplakia, candida albicans, Addison disease)
  • Stensen ducts (mumps)
  • Tongue (Fordyce granule, niacin/Vit. B12 deficiency, hairy leukoplakia, enlargement, atrophy)
  • Ventral tongue surface
  • Wharton ducts
  • Tongue strength and mobility
  • Hard and soft palates, uvula (torus palatinus, Kaposi sarcoma, jaundice, cleft palate)
  • Odor (fruity/acetone, ammonia, sulfur)
  • Uvula (CN X paralysis)
  • Tonsils (tonsillitis, grading)
• Abnormalities of the mouth and throat

  • Herpes simplex type I (cold sores)
  • Cheilosis (lips)
  • Carcinoma (lips, tongue)
  • Leukoplakia (ventral surface)
  • Hairy leukoplakia (lateral surface)
  • Candida albicans infection (thrush)
  • Vitamin B12 deficiency
  • Black hairy tongue
  • Canker sores
  • Gingivitis
  • Receding gums
  • Kaposi sarcoma lesions
  • Acute tonsillitis
  • Streptococcal pharyngitis
• Black stool indicates upper gastrointestinal bleeding
• Red blood in stool can be found with hemorrhoids, polyps, cancer, or colitis
• Clay-colored (gray/tan) stools result from a lack of bile pigment
• Yellow stool indicates steatorrhea, which is the presence of excess fat in the stool due to impaired digestion and/or absorption of fats
• Mucus in stool can also indicate steatorrhea, which is the presence of excess fat in the stool due to impaired digestion and/or absorption of fats
• Stool tests should be done every year starting at age 45
• Colonoscopy should be done every 10 years, CT virtual colonoscopy every 5 years, and flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years
• Digital rectal examination (DRE) should be performed as part of the physical examination
• Thrombosed external hemorrhoids appear swollen, itchy, painful, and bleed when stool passes
• An anorectal fistula is a small opening in the skin that surrounds the anal opening
• Rectal prolapse occurs when the mucosa of the rectum protrudes out through the anal opening
• A pilonidal cyst is a small dimple or cyst/sinus that contains hair, located midline in the sacrococcygeal area with a palpable sinus tract
• Rectal cancer may feel like a firm nodule, an ulcerated nodule with edges, or an irregular shaped, fixed, and hard nodule
• Rectal polyps are common and vary in size and numbers, and may be pedunculated (on a stalk) or sessile (on the mucosal surface)