Fibro-osseous lesions of the jaws: an analysis of 122 cases in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: There are no previously published reports on fibro-osseous jaw lesions in Thailand. The aims of this study were to determine the relative frequencies and the clinicopathologic features of these lesions in Thailand, and to compare these data with information available in the literature.

METHODS: A total of 122 cases of fibro-osseous lesions of the jaws, out of a total of 4808 biopsy specimens, were collected from the files of the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, during a 34-year period from 1973 to 2006. Clinical data and histopathologic diagnoses were reviewed and analyzed.

RESULTS: The most common was ossifying fibroma (50.8%), followed by fibrous dysplasia (42.6%). Ossifying fibroma most frequently occurred in the third and fourth decades of life (61.3%) and mostly involved the posterior region of the mandible (41.9%). Fibrous dysplasia was mostly seen in the second decade of life (40.4%). The maxilla was involved far more often than the mandible (53.8% and 6.2%, respectively), most common in the posterior region of the maxilla (28.8%). Both lesions presented as painless swellings (62.9% and 90.4%, respectively). Radiographically, ossifying fibroma mostly was mixed radiolucent-radiopacity (45.2%). Fibrous dysplasia mostly appeared as a radiopaque lesion (34.6%).

CONCLUSIONS: The relative frequency of osseous dysplasia is underestimated because most lesions are not treated and the patients are kept under long-term follow-up without biopsy. The clinicopathologic features of ossifying fibroma and fibrous dysplasia in Thailand are identical to those in the literature.