Relative frequency of localized reactive hyperplastic lesions of the gingiva: a retrospective study of 1675 cases from Israel.

BACKGROUND: The gingiva reacts to chronic irritation or trauma with localized reactive hyperplastic lesions (LRHL) that can be classified into four groups: focal fibrous hyperplasia (FFH), pyogenic granuloma (PG), peripheral ossifying fibroma (POF), and peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG). This study determined the frequency of LRHL in an oral pathology biopsy service and compared these data with reports from other countries.

METHODS: The material included the biopsies of all consecutive LRHL of the gingiva stored in the departmental database (1989-2008). Lesions were analyzed according to their location and to the patients' age and gender. The findings were compared with those published in studies from other countries.

RESULTS: There were 1675 LRHL that comprised 6.7% of the 25,106 accessed biopsies. FFH was the most common (31.8%), followed by PG (29.1%), POF (20.4%), and PGCG (18.7%). POF tended to affect younger patients than did FFH, PG, and PGCG. FFH, PG, and POF were more common in women, while PGCG showed no gender predilection. PG and POF were more common in the maxilla, PGCG more common in the mandible and FFH was distributed equally between the jaws. The anterior region of the maxilla was the most prevalent site for FFH, PG, and POF.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study differ somewhat from those of other countries. There is a need for further investigation to answer the question whether the differences can be attributed to geographic or ethnic factors and/or to small sample sizes of the reported studies.