OBJECTIVE: To describe a clinical approach to the differential diagnosis of oral lesions in neonates. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Academic ambulatory care center. PARTICIPANTS: Male infant. RESULTS: A gingival mass in a male infant appeared clinically consistent with a congenital epulis. Following excision and histologic examination, the diagnosis was determined to be a pyogenic granuloma. Careful attention to alternative diagnoses led to the correct etiology. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care pediatricians encounter neonatal oral lesions infrequently. The most common oral lesions in the newborn period are Epstein pearls and Bohn nodules. This case illustrates the importance of formulating a more extensive differential diagnosis on discovery of a neonatal oral mass.
OBJECTIVE: To describe a clinical approach to the differential diagnosis of oral lesions in neonates. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Academic ambulatory care center. PARTICIPANTS: Male infant. RESULTS: A gingival mass in a male infant appeared clinically consistent with a congenital epulis. Following excision and histologic examination, the diagnosis was determined to be a pyogenic granuloma. Careful attention to alternative diagnoses led to the correct etiology. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care pediatricians encounter neonatal oral lesions infrequently. The most common oral lesions in the newborn period are Epstein pearls and Bohn nodules. This case illustrates the importance of formulating a more extensive differential diagnosis on discovery of a neonatal oral mass.