Benign lesion of the jaws

SURGICAL INTERVENTION

As benign tumors they tend to remain localized in the organ of origin, without giving rise to metastatic phenomena. However, they should not be underestimated due to the high recurrence rate of some histotypes (especially the ameloblastoma and pindborg tumor).

The preferred location is the mandibular angle but may occasionally be found in any portion of the jaw bones. They are usually asymptomatic and often occasional findings following radiological investigations performed for dental reasons.

They may present as cyst-like osteolytic lesions, such as mixed ground-glass lesions, or as osteo-thickening lesions. The most frequent histotypes are ameloblastoma, pindborg tumor, odontogenic fibroma, odontogenic myxoma, odontogenic fibromyxoma, complex or compound odontoma.

Therapy is always surgical, and usually involves tumor enucleation without the need for reconstruction. In the case of more extensive tumors, it may be necessary to resect portions of the facial skeleton and reconstruction with revascularized grafts or flaps.