Esthetic treatment of buccal exostoses: a case report

Buccal exostoses are benign bony protuberances that may grow over time but rarely result in functional alterations. The diagnosis is established by a combination of medical history and clinical and radiographic features of the affected region. This case report describes the surgical treatment of bilateral bone projections on the buccal surface of the maxilla that represented an undesirable esthetic alteration to the patient. The surgical procedures, which were performed at separate appointments for the left and right sides, involved reflection of full-thickness flaps and careful osteotomy with a carbide spherical drill and a Rhodes chisel. At completion of the procedures, flat buccal bone ridges with a clear esthetic improvement were observed. At the follow-up examination (3 months postsurgery on the left side and 1 month on the right), the presence of stable periodontal tissue-positioned where it was located during the immediately postoperative period-indicated a satisfactory clinical result.