Large odontome compressing inferior alveolar nerve – A case report

Abstract

A young female sought treatment for a painful swelling in the right mandibular posterior region for the past 1 month with severe halitosis and paresthesia of right lower lip. Past history revealed that #46 was impacted due to an odontogenic tumor and an unsuccessful attempt was made to remove the impacted teeth and the tumor. A warm, tender, mild extra-oral diffuse swelling with right side cervical lymphadenopathy present. Intra-orally, there was a missing crown of 46 with a diffuse, tender buccal cortical expansion with a draining sinus. Imaging studies revealed a radiopaque lesion with a well-defined and rounded radiolucent halo. A provisional diagnosis of acute suppurative osteomyelitis was made and the remaining roots along with the radio-opaque material removed in toto via an open approach method and the entire area reconstructed with autograft harvested from rib. Histopathologically lesion was diagnosed to be a complex composite odontome. The challenges of diagnosis and the implication are discussed.

Keywords

• odontoma
• osteomyelitis
• impacted first molar
• diagnostic challenge