[Intramandibular inclusions of salivary gland tissue]

Salivary gland tissue inclusions in the mandible appear as well delimited radiolucency areas, asymptomatic, usually located in the mandibular angle and sometimes in the premolar canine and symphysis regions. The examination of 8,500 radiographs has demonstrated an incidence of one radiolucent area at the mandibular angle every 500 radiographs. Our result is slightly inferior to the mean reported in the literature. Seven cases were examined. Six of them have been treated surgically and histologically. At exploration a defect in the lingual cortical plate was found. The cavities were filled by salivary gland tissue. The contents of the cavities were attached via the lingual cortical defect to the near salivary gland. The cause of such radiolucency situated in the mandibular angle seems to be an altered resorption and apposition process of the bone triggered by a modification of the salivary glands elasticity; on the contrary, the salivary inclusions in the symphysis region is referred to as embryonic origin. In the literature different terms are used often in relation with a pathogenetical hypothesis; in this paper we suggest rather a description terminology such as intramandibular salivary tissue.