Parotid enlargement: a presenting sign in anorexia nervosa.

The purpose of this article is to present the pertinent medical and dental features of anorexia nervosa and to add an additional oral-facial finding, parotid gland enlargement, which has been described infrequently in a few scattered reports. Pertinent differential diagnoses for the systemic and oral-facial findings are discussed, including a review of the factors producing salivary gland enlargement. Early recognition of the psychiatric and pathophysiologic components of this disorder are essential to diagnosis and successful treatment. The dentist should consider the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa in the presence of such abnormal dental findings as perimylolysis and chronic salivary gland enlargement, especially in underweight and amenorrheic young women.