Chronic factitial ulcer of chin cured by endodontic (root-canal) surgery for underlying periapical abscess.

In a determined search for the cause of a "factitial" ulcer of the jaw, consultation with 3 dentists was required before an underlying periapical abscess was discovered. Within 3 months of endodontic surgery, this ulcer of 12 years duration had completely healed and remains healed. Too often dental infection is neither suspected nor detected as a cause of skin disease.