<p>A retrospective study of oral and maxillofacial pathology lesions diagnosed at the Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University</p>

Abstract

Background Oral and maxillofacial lesions (OMFL) comprise a broad spectrum of benign and malignant lesions that affect the oral cavity. However, few epidemiological studies have evaluated oral cavity lesions, and very few have focused on oral soft tissue pathology. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and distribution of OMFL that had been diagnosed histologically at the Oral Pathology Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University. Materials and methods A retrospective study was conducted to assess the distribution of OMFL among the oral cavity biopsies submitted to the Oral Pathology Laboratory during the period from 1996 to 2016. Information on sex, age, location of the lesion, and histopathologic diagnosis was analyzed. Results A total of 1,218 cases were examined. Among these, reactive/adaptive lesions were the most common type (n=245; 20.1%) and cystic lesions were the second most common (n=214; 17.6%), followed by inflammatory lesions (n=152; 12.5%) and epithelial pathology (n=115; 9.4%). Conclusion The results of the present study provide valuable information on the prevalence of OMFL in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Reactive conditions were the most frequently diagnosed pathologies. Most oral and maxillofacial biopsies were soft tissue lesions, benign in nature, and inflammatory in origin. Further studies are necessary to provide more information on head and neck diseases in the general population to develop better future oral health policies.

Histopathological Findings of Oral and Maxillofacial Biopsies from a Sample of Yemeni Patients

“…When compared to premalignant lesions, malignant neoplastic lesions was much higher (n = 90; 6.5% and 36.8%; respectively). This is an agreement with other authors, [5,7,13] and this suggests failure of early detection of suspicious oral lesions by oral health care providers, delay of case referral from general or specialized dental practitioners to biopsy the lesions or patients being unaware of oral malignant lesions and not seeking treatment in absence of the pain.…”

“…respectively. [7,[15][16][17]] Surprisingly, studies from south western region of Saudi Arabia reported a higher incidence of malignant lesions (38.8%) and smokeless tobacco specifically shamma was held accountable for increased incidence of malignant lesions. [5,18] This higher prevalence of oral cancers might be due to the commonly practiced habits among Yemeni population such as Qat chewing, smoking, and Shamma using, [19] which can contribute to oral cancers, and also could explains the relatively equal reported prevalence of malignant lesions among the presents study sample and that of Saudi study.…”

“…This also the finding of many other studies. [7,9,10] However, other studies reported higher prevalence rate among males. [11,12] The mean age of the patients with OMLs was 43.6; this in accordance with that of other study among neighbor Saudi population.…”

“…This finding is in consistent with previous prevalence studies. [7,13,14]This age group is labile to be affected by other health problems leading them to seek the health care while which the oral lesions might accidently found by health care providers.…”

“…Epidemiologic studies of OMLs are rare compared with the studies of caries and periodontal diseases [6]. Just couple of epidemiological investigations on the occurrence of histologically affirmed oral lesions have been directed, principally in the USA, India, some Asian countries, and Europe [7]. Surveying the distribution of OMLs in specific population is essential to understand its prevalence and characteristics, yet it is also fundamental to promote early diagnosis and provide appropriate health programs, as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).…”