A rare case of a plastic foreign body (suction tip) within the soft tissues in the lingual aspect of the mandible

Introduction: A rare occasion for the oral and maxillofacial surgeon as well as the dentist is to find a foreign object in a patient's oral cavity. The underlying etiology may be a trauma, therapeutic interventions (dentoalveolar or implant surgery), or even a tooth dislocation. It may cause symptoms and thus be a reason for the patient to visit the dentist or the oral and maxillofacial surgeon or it can be an incidental finding on radiographic evaluation. Case Report: A 54-year-old edentulous patient presented with pain upon wearing his lower denture. An orthopantomographic evaluation showed nothing unusual and the patient was scheduled for the removal of a clinically diagnosed lingual exostosis under local anesthesia. Intraoperatively, we found and removed a suction tip, which caused the discomfort. Apparently, it was an iatrogenic leftover from a previous dental therapeutic procedure (an inferior 3rd molar extraction), right after which it was noticed. Conclusion: The dentist in general should be very careful, when treating his patients, so as not to leave a foreign object in the oral cavity.