Orofacial Pathological Lesions in Children and Adolescents: A 25-year survey in Iran

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Oral pathological conditions presented in children are various and often different from those of adults. There is considerable variation in the prevalence of these lesions among different regions of the world. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and clinical-pathological features of oral lesions diagnosed in children and adolescents throughout 25 years in an oral pathology department. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at Dental School of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. All the medical reports and biopsy files of the patients aged <18 years that were diagnosed during January 1990 and December 2015 were retrieved. The data regarding histopathologic diagnosis, site of lesions, and date of diagnosis and demographic characteristics of patients were elicited. The lesions were categorized based on their origin and age group of the patients. Descriptive statistics were used as appropriate. The critical level of significance was set at p< 0.05. RESULTS: 1267 lesions were recorded. The mean age of the samples was 12.5±3.9. Of lesions, (408, 49.3%) were in posterior area. The most common lesions were odontogenic cysts (416, 32.9%) and reactive lesions (317, 25.1%) and the least common lesions were allergic and immunologic disorders (2, 0.2%). In age groups of 7-12 and 13-18 years, odontogenic cysts [(208, 38.1%), (198, 31.4%)] and reactive lesions [(143, 26.3%), (147, 23.3%)] were the most common lesions, respectively. During the 25 years of survey, the prevalence of pulp and periapical disease increased (p <0.001), that of bone pathology decreased (p< 0.05) and trend of other lesions did not significantly change over this time. CONCLUSION: The most frequent lesions were odontogenic cysts and reactive lesions. The prevalence of lesions was not changed dramatically during the 25 year. The frequency of oral lesions in Isfahan province (in Iran) is different from other regions in the world and even, to some extent, different from other regions in Iran, which is in agreement with the hypothesis of geographical distribution of these lesions.