A 45-year-old man referred to the Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences for routine dental and periodontal examinations. The patient's medical history was not significant. He was not a smoker and revealed no history of trauma or jaw surgery. On extraoral examination, he had a normal appearance. On intraoral examination, the patient had neither any pain nor swelling on the buccal and lingual aspects of the mandible. The radiographic images showed a well-defined unilocular radiolucency below the apices of the left lateral incisor and left canine teeth [].\nFurthermore, deep caries was observed in the left lateral incisor. The clinician suspected a periapical lesion of endodontic origin, but unfortunately, the vitality test of the tooth was not done. To rule out any possible existing pathology in anterior mandible, a diagnostic excision biopsy was planned. The surgical exploration revealed the lingual cortex had been destroyed. Further, the gross examination indicated a soft, relatively firm, brownish, gray mass with granular surface measuring approximately 20 mm × 10 mm × 20 mm. Moreover, histopathologic examination showed a normal salivary gland tissue, with many mucous acini and ducts, which was consistent with normal sublingual gland []. The sections from few other areas revealed inflammatory cells, muscle tissue, fat tissue, blood vessels, and nerve bundles []. Thus, based on the clinical, radiographical, and histopathological findings, the final diagnosis of SBC with ectopic salivary gland tissue was made. Clinical and radiographic controls were performed during 3 months of follow-up. No changes in the zone have been detected.
The asymptomatic patient, a 60-year-old man, was referred to a radiology clinic to undergo examination for the purpose of implant planning. The panoramic radiograph revealed no important alterations in the mandible (). The patient underwent multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) (Synergy Helicoidal, General Electric Company, Milwaukee, WI), with slices and intervals of 0.625 mm, field of view 15.8 cm, matrix 512 × 512, standard filter, 120 kV and 200 mA.\nThe tomographic images clearly showed multiple cavitary defects, two in the anterior region (anterior variant) and one in the posterior region (posterior variant) (Figures , , and ). Intracavitary tomographic density (Hounsfield units) suggested glandular tissue in the anterior defects and fat in the posterior defect.