Prosthetic implications of Eagle's syndrome.

Eagle's syndrome can produce symptoms that may be easily confused with those resulting from wearing a prosthetic restoration. The symptoms resulting from elongated styloid processes and methods of diagnosis and treatment of these processes were described. A patient with Eagle's syndrome has been presented. The symptoms were initially suspected to be due to an ill-fitting mandibular removable partial denture. Further clinical and radiographic examination led to the diagnosis of Eagle's syndrome, and surgical correction was done. The prosthodontist should consider surgery as a possible treatment when the symptoms of the syndrome cannot be attributed to a prosthetic restoration. Various radiographic projections and panoramic radiography are valuable in confirming the presence of a calcified stylohyoid ligament or an elongated styloid process.