A retrospective study of 51,781 adult oral and maxillofacial biopsies.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have compared patient and anatomic characteristics across the broad scope of oral and maxillofacial disease seen in dental clinics. The authors conducted a study to make these comparisons by surveying a large sample of histologically diagnosed oral and maxillofacial lesions in a US adult population. METHODS: A total of 51,781 specimens biopsied from 51,781 adult patients were received by an oral pathology service over 13 years (2001-2015) and analyzed. A description of patients' sex and age at diagnosis, as well as the anatomic site of biopsy was given for diagnoses of 10 oral disease types, including malignant neoplasm, benign neoplasm, infectious, reactive, potentially malignant, developmental, healthy tissue, immune dysfunction, physical trauma, and other. RESULTS: The authors reported reactive lesions were the most prevalent disease type found in the sample (74.9%). Malignant diagnoses comprised 1.97% of all biopsies. The 3 most prevalent diagnoses in this study included benign keratosis, chronic apical periodontitis, and radicular cyst. Different anatomic sites, patient age groups, and sexes show different distributions of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Certain disease types and diagnoses were found to have a higher prevalence by sex, among particular age groups, and in certain anatomic sites. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This information provides clinicians with a detailed and broad scope of the variety of oral and maxillofacial lesions processed at an oral pathology service and may assist practitioners in forming clinical impressions and differential diagnoses.

Pediatric Oral Pathology: A Retrospective Survey of 4,554 Biopsies.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to: (1) report patient age, gender, and anatomical information on a large number of pediatric oral biopsies in the United States; and (2) highlight differences in recent pediatric oral lesions compared to past pediatric studies and an adult population. METHODS: A total of 4,554 pediatric biopsies received over the past 13 years (2001-2015) were surveyed. Patient's age, gender, anatomical site of biopsy, and diagnosis were described under 10 diagnostic categories: (1) malignant neoplasm; (2) benign neoplasm; (3) infectious; (4) reactive; (5) precancerous; (6) developmental; (7) healthy tissue; (8) immune dysfunction; (9) physical trauma; and (10) other. RESULTS: A gradual increase in the number of biopsies with age was noted. The most common diagnosis observed was mucocele, consisting of 28 percent of all biopsies. Biopsies across pathological categories were most commonly obtained from the mandible. CONCLUSIONS: Biopsies received from a pediatric population are largely reactive in nature. Compared to an adult population, the pediatric population has a significantly lower rate of malignant and precancerous lesions but a higher rate of developmental diagnosis. A diverse array of pathoses was seen in the gingiva and mandible, whereas palatal mucosa and the floor of the mouth exhibited more variation.