LAUSR

This article reports an unusual case of foreign-body lesion on the oral mucosa. A 61-yr-old man, with no previous traumatic episode, presented with a small swelling resembling a sinus-tract on the mucosa in the anterior mandible, adjacent to the left central and lateral incisors. Because of a discrete drainage of serous/purulent exudate, the clinician initially suspected of endodontic involvement. However, the adjacent teeth were caries-free, responded positively to pulp tests, and the periapical tissues were radiographically normal. Exploration of the lesion opening under an operating microscope revealed a small seed associated with a dark filamentous structure; both were removed and processed for histologic examination. The seed was from a fig, and was germinating under the mucosa conditions. Bacterial colonization of the vegetable structures and polymorphonuclear leukocyte accumulations were histologically observed. The mucosa healed completely and uneventfully over the following weeks.