Benign tumours and tumour-like lesions in the oral cavity: a retrospective analysis

Oral lesions are divided into non-neoplastic lesions, potentially malignant lesions and neoplastic lesions. More clinical data are needed to determine their helpful clinical pattern.

To present the epidemiological, clinical and histopathological characteristics of the oral lesions.

The retrospective study group comprised records of 208 patients which were reviewed according to selected epidemiological and clinical features. All the biopsy specimens were classified into: reactive lesions, precancerous lesions/potentially malignant lesions, salivary gland pathologies, benign and malignant tumours.

The lower lip was the most common site involved followed by buccal and vestibular mucosa. The most frequent diagnoses were fibroma, mucocele and papilloma. The predominant pathomorphological forms were nodule and bulla. The most frequent salivary gland pathology was mucocele. Fibroma was the most frequent pathomorphological diagnosis, followed by mucocele and reactive lesions such as irritation fibroma (IF) and granuloma.

In cases of oral mucosal lesions, we propose the following algorithm: the exclusion of all odontogenic and iatrogenic causes; the detection and elimination of harmful habits, parafunctions and irritants from the oral cavity especially from the vestibule of the oral cavity and from the lips; all surgical treatment should be performed only after the proper detection and elimination of causative factors to decrease the risk of recurrence; excisional biopsy or in more diffuse lesions incisional biopsy is recommended to confirm clinical diagnosis; and consideration of other factors that can modify the clinical pattern of oral lesions, such as oral hygiene, systemic diseases, and drugs.