Plunging sublingual dermoid: Intraoral excision

A case of a dermoid cyst with an oral and a submental component is presented here in a 10-year-old child who presented with complaints of a slow growing painless mass in the oral cavity and difficulty in chewing and swallowing solid foods for about 2 years. Ultrasonography revealed cystic swelling occupying the sublingual as well as submental space. Under general anesthesia and with nasotracheal fiber optic intubation in awake state, the patient underwent excision of the mass. Although the cyst was large and extending through the mylohyoid muscle, intraoral midline incision was performed through the mucosa overlying the swelling and the cyst was separated from the surrounding tissues with appropriate traction and countertraction and successfully removed without extraoral incision. Oral approach in surgical enucleation is a useful procedure to avoid cosmetic problems in large sublingual dermoid cysts