An osteoma usually develops in bone tissue. It has a predilection for the head and neck region including the frontal sinus, facial bones, skull and mandible. Tongues are a soft tissue and not a bone tissue. Therefore, osteoma of tongue is a disease rarely seen. In November 2005, a 24-year-old male patient presented with his chief complaint being the presence for about 3 months of a foreign body sensation in his throat. The physical examination revealed a smooth, light red protruding mass at the posterior part of the patient's tongue, which measured about 1.5 × 1.5× 1 cm in size and was attached to the tongue by a stalk of connective tissue. After being hospitalized, the patient received an excision of the mass under general anesthesia. A special staining method was applied to a section during later pathological examination. Within the stained section, mature osteocytes could be seen surrounded by fibrous connective tissues and covered by stratified squamous epithelium. The examination results confirmed that the patient suffered from lingual osteoma. Up to the present, no sign of recurrence has been observed during postoperative follow-up of the patient.