Central osteoma associated with root resorption

Osteomas of the jaws are rare osteogenic lesions considered to be true neoplasms, characterized by the proliferation of compact and/or cancellous bone. It can be central, peripheral, or of an extraskeletal type. The central osteoma arises from the endosteum, the peripheral osteoma from the periosteum, and the extraskeletal soft tissue osteoma usually develops within a muscle. However, in a previous work we have suggested that at least some peripheral osteomas may be reactive rather than neoplasms, probably associated with trauma. Some reported cases did have a clear history of trauma; however, this was not the case in the majority of cases. Whereas peripheral osteomas are fairly easy to diagnose, central osteomas pose a more challenging diagnostic problem and need to be differentiated from other similar lesions of the jaws, such as central ossifying fibroma, condensing osteitis, idiopathic osteosclerosis, osteoblastoma, cementoblastoma, and complex odontoma. With such a low number of case of central osteoma reported, the objectives of the present report are to describe a case of the central osteoma associated with partially root resorption of the mandibular first molar. Our case report participates to literature as a 11th case.