Imaging Sci Dent.  2012 Dec;42(4):261-263. 10.5624/isd.2012.42.4.261.

Multilocular developmental salivary gland defect

• Kim JS

• KMID: 1806794
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5624/isd.2012.42.4.261

Abstract

Developmental salivary gland defect is a bone depression on the lingual surface of the mandible containing salivary gland or fatty soft tissue. The most common location is within the submandibular gland fossa and often close to the inferior border of the mandible. This defect is asymptomatic and generally discovered only incidentally during radiographic examination of the area. This defect also appears as a well-defined, corticated, unilocular radiolucency below the mandibular canal. Although it is not uncommon for this defect to appear as a round or ovoid radiolucency, multilocular radiolucency of these defects is relatively rare. This report presents a case of a developmental salivary gland defect with multilocular radiolucency in a male patient.

Keyword

Bone Cysts; Salivary Glands; Mandible; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

MeSH Terms

Bone Cysts
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography
Depression
Humans
Male
Mandible
Salivary Glands
Submandibular Gland

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Panoramic radiograph reveals a well-defined multilocular radiolucent area beneath the mandibular canal at the root of the second molar tooth.

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  Fig. 2 Axial CBCT images show a lingual bony defect located at the lingual side of the mandibular canal.

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  Fig. 3 Coronal CBCT images show a lobulated bony defect below the mandibular canal.

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  Fig. 4 Para-sagittal CBCT image shows three lobulated radiolucencies with radiopaque margins between the mandibular canal and the inferior border of the mandibular canal.

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  Fig. 5 Three-dimensional CBCT images reveal a bony defect extending from the medial surface of the mandible.

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