Complex odontoma restricting mouth opening: an unusual clinical presentation and surgical management
Abstract
Odontomas are common benign odontogenic tumors, being often detected on routine radiographs during the first two decades of life. Rarely, odontoma can interfere with jaw movements, causing mouth opening limitation. A 28-year-old male patient was referred complaining of restriction of mouth opening and mandibular movements, which started 6 months ago. Clinical examination revealed a painless increase of volume on the right maxilla, which interfered the mandibular movements, being associated with pain in these attempts. A well-defined, oval radiopaque lesion in close relationship with the impacted maxillary right third molar was detected in tomographic reconstructions. A surgical excision of the lesion was performed, and microscopy revealed complex odontoma. After 4 months of follow-up, the patient achieved adequate mouth opening and recovered mandibular movements. In the current case, the lesion was placed in a difficult access site, which directly interfered with the displacement of coronoid process.
Keywords:
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).