Massive sublingual haematoma following osseo-integrated implant placement in the anterior mandible

The floor of the mouth is a very vascular area. Should perforation of the lingual cortex of the mandible occur during the placement of an osseo-integrated implant, significant haemorrhage may result. We present the case of a patient who attended our unit with acute airway obstruction. Although life threatening haematoma following the placement of osseo-integrated implants in the interforaminal area of the mandible is known to occur, there continue to be sporadic reports in the literature.(1-4) This shows that some practitioners are unaware of the risks involved and place implants of the wrong size and orientation.