Epulis: a clinicopathological study of 120 patients with emphasis on recurrent lesions

A total of 138 surgical excision specimens from 120 patients presenting clinically with epulis was classified by histopathological criteria into giant cell-, granulomatous- and fibromatous-type lesions. Clinical data suggest that local irritants are an important pathogenetic factor. Histopathological analysis revealed that epulides represented self-limiting, reactive gingival overgrowths of granulation tissue displaying common morphologic features in all three histologic types. The transition of a given histologic type of epulis into another, as observed in recurrent lesions, is consistent with the concept of a common histogenetic entity.