Hand, foot, and mouth disease: a viral disease of importance to dentists.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a disease of viral origin that produces characteristic lesions in the mouth and on the hands and feet. Knowledge of the disease is important to dentists since the oral vesicular and ulcerative lesions are usually the first clinical signs of the disease, and the epidemiclike patterns of the disease make it likely that the dentist will contract the disease himself or possibly become a carrier of the virus. The lesions of hand, foot, and mouth disease usually regress in two to three weeks, and complications are rare. Treatment is basically palliative to reduce the pain and irritation. Differential diagnosis of the disease must include consideration of herpes simplex, herpangina, recurrent aphthae, erythema multiforme, and animal foot and mouth disease. A case involving a dentist and his family is reported.