A case of a very large salivary stone

Salivary stones are the most common type of salivary gland disease. Having said that, they are very rare – less than 1 in 200 people will develop a symptomatic salivary stone. Usually they occur on one side of the mouth only. They seem to be more common in men than in women. Most of the evidence suggests that they are not strongly correlated with kidney stones, although some factors can increase both (e.g., dehydration).

Singh and Singh () discuss a case of a 55-year-old man who went to the Udaipur Dental Clinic with mild fever, pain, and swelling in the floor of the mouth. External examination, visually and through palpation, found no swelling or abnormal mass. The man’s oral hygiene was rather poor. The figures below show the extracted salivary stone, the stone perforating the base of the mouth prior to extraction, and an X-ray image of the stone.

I am not a big fan of X-ray tests in dental clinics, as they are usually done to convince patients to have dental decay treated in the conventional way – drilling and filling. Almost ten years ago, based on X-ray tests, I was told that I needed to treat some cavities urgently. I refused and instead completely changed my diet. Those cavities either reversed or never progressed. As the years passed, my dentist eventually became convinced that I had done the right thing, but told me that my case was very rare; unique in fact. Well, I know of a few cases like mine already. I believe that the main factors in my case were the elimination of unnatural foods (e.g., wheat-based foods), and consumption of a lot of raw-milk cheese.

However, as the case described here suggests, an X-ray test may be useful when a salivary stone is suspected.