Abstract
Anterior open bite in childhood is frequently caused by oral habits, but occasionally by a tumor of the tongue and macroglossia. This paper reports on a rare case of open bite caused by hemangioma of the tongue.
A five-year-old Japanese boy was referred to the Pediatric Dentistry of Tsurumi University with anterior open bite. The patient had a swelling of the cheek, a mass in the tongue and a lower enlarged lip as well as anterior open bite. In his study cast, the over bite and over jet were -6.50 mm and 1.20 mm respectively. The dental arch length and width were longer than the standards in both arches. The MRI and histopathological examination revealed multiple hemangiomas in the tongue, in the surrounding masseter and medial pterygoid muscles and parotid gland. The lesion of the tongue affected over half of the left side.
Steroid therapy was commenced to correct the anterior open bite and the salivation in conjunction with oral surgery starting at the age of 5 years 7 months. The surgical dissecting of the tongue and lower lip with an electric knife under general anesthesia was rendered at the age of 5 years 9 months. Oral treatment involving plaque control and oral health promotion was performed in our pediatric dental clinic. The open bite was corrected, as the hemangioma of tongue was reduced. At the age of 6years 6 months, his over bite and over jet was -2.60 mm and 2.40 mm respectively.
In this case, we achieved a success by team approach with dental pediatricians and oral surgeons.
