In oral implantology, the most serious complications occur intraoperatively or within a short period. We describe an unusual case of focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect involving dental implant in the posterior mandibular region of the adult woman. Despite the fact that this condition requires no treatment, it could lead to the displacement of the dental implant. Additionally, this case report reinforces that histopathological analysis is mandatory for precise diagnosis of the radiolucency into posterior mandibular region of the adult woman associated or not with dental implant placement.

In oral implantology, the most serious complications and those most frequently described in the literature occur during surgery. The well-known intraoperative complications and accidents related to surgery have included hemorrhage, nerve damage, mandibular fractures, damage to adjacent teeth, lack of primary stability, and displacement or migration of implants.

The displacement of an implant will occur intraoperatively or within a short period because of poor surgical technique or anatomic variances. In addition, the presence of the medullar component in the jawbones causing the focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect can facilitate the displacement of dental implants during surgery.

The focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect corresponds to the uncommon hematopoietic tissue found mainly in posterior mandibular region of the adult woman. This condition is generally asymptomatic and discovered during radiographic exam of the jaws. Most of the focal osteoporotic bone marrow defects occur in edentulous areas region where tooth extraction was previously performed. Recently, Sençimen et al. (2011) reported a case of the focal osteoporotic bone marrow occurring secondary to dental implant placement.

This paper describes an unusual case of focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect involving dental implant in posterior mandibular region of the adult woman.