[Florid osseous dysplasia: Management of a symptomatic case]

Florid osseous dysplasia is a rare and benign fibro-osseous pathology, in which bone is replaced by fibrous tissue and metaplastic bone. It can remain asymptomatic for a long time and is most often discovered incidentally during a radiological examination. Sometimes, patients are seen because of an infectious complication.

An edentulous 62 years-old woman was referred for a painful mandibular swelling preventing insertion of her removable denture. Clinical examination showed a chin swelling, a deformation of mandibular bone tables of approximately four centimeters in diameter, an intra-oral fistula and a suppuration. Radiological examination showed a mixed bone lesion blowing up the buccal and lingual cortical plates and a bone sequestrum. Blood test was normal and there were no other skeletal abnormalities. The diagnosis of florid osseous bone dysplasia was made thanks to the confrontation of the clinical, radiological and histological examinations. Excision of the bone sequestrum associated to remodeling osteoplasty was performed under general anesthesia. The removable denture was rebased to drivehealing.

Surgical management of osseous bone dysplasia is legitimate only in the presence of complications not responding to medical treatment. In all other cases, therapeutic abstention and long term supervision are essential.