Prevalence and Clinico-pathologic Profile of Biopsied Gingival Lesions from 2 Thai Dental Schools

Gingiva can be afflicted by several pathological entities apart from gingivitis and periodontitis. There have been limited number of studies on gingival lesions, especially from Thailand. Aim: To analyze the prevalence and distribution of biopsied gingival lesions from Chulalongkorn and Rangsit Dental Schools, Thailand.

Biopsy records of the participating institutions from 1995 to 2020 were reviewed for gingival lesions. The demographic data, site of lesions and diagnoses were collected. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics.

From a total of 16,207 biopsies, 1,589 cases (10.2%) were diagnosed in the category of gingival lesions. The mean age ± SD of the patients was 42.3 ± 18.6 years with the highest prevalence being in the fourth decade of life (17.4%). A male-to-female ratio was 0.48:1. The most common location was the posterior mandible (27.4%). Regarding the type of gingival lesions, non-neoplastic lesions (88.5%) outnumbered neoplastic lesions (11.5%). The most common lesion was pyogenic granuloma, followed by irritation fibroma and peripheral ossifying fibroma. Among the neoplastic lesions, squamous cell carcinoma was the most prevalent lesion followed by papilloma and lymphoma.

Gingival lesions mostly occur in the fourth decade of life and have a predilection for female patients. The majority of the lesions are located in the posterior mandible. Non-neoplastic lesion, especially the reactive subtype, is the most prevalent group and pyogenic granuloma is the most common gingival lesion. Data from this study represent biopsied gingival lesions from Thailand which may be different from those of other countries. Key words:Gingival lesions, prevalence, demographic, clinico-pathological correlation, gingival biopsy.