Oral Cancer Adjacent to Dental Implants Mimicking Benign Lesions: A Case Series Study.

Despitethe long-term survival rates of osseointegrated dental implants, several biological complications are known to affect the peri-implant tissues, such as peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis. Occasionally, the clinical features of these more common benign lesions, or others nonrelated to implants, may be similar tooral malignancies, leading to misdiagnosis. AIM The objective of this study was to present a case series of oral cancer located adjacent to dental implants, aimedto identify the reasons for initial misinterpretation of diagnosis. CASE REPORTS Thirteen patients, 10 females and 3 males, aged 59 to 90,were assessed. Among the differential diagnoses established, a malignant or premalignant lesion was not considered in 10 out of the 13 patients. Peri-implantitis was the most common preliminary diagnosis, followed by fungal infection, viral infections, and traumatic ulcers. The meantime for the diagnosis of oral cancer was 21.5 months. CONCLUSION The clinical presentation of peri-implant malignancy,such as ulceration, white and red plaques, and exophytic lesions, may mimic benign diseasesthat are more common in the oral cavity. Suspicious lesions with treatment failure that persist for more than 2 weeks require biopsy and histopathological analysisto establish an early definitive diagnosis to improve the prognosis and quality of life of the patients.