Comparative analysis of biopsy specimens from gingiva and alveolar mucosa.

A total of 834 consecutive biopsy specimens from the gingiva and 448 from the alveolar mucosa were examined to see if differences in structure and function are reflected in categories and frequency of diagnoses. In both regions, inflammatory/reactive hyperplasia accounted for about 85% of the lesions and neoplasia for most of the remainder. Pyogenic granuloma was the most common lesion in the gingiva (23.6%) and fibrous hyperplasia in the alveolar mucosa (23.2%). The ratio of benign to malignant neoplasms was greater in the gingiva (10:1) than in the alveolar mucosa (almost 1:1). Benign tumors of the gingiva and malignant tumors of the alveolar mucosa occurred more often in males than one would expect from their proportion in the survey (keeping in mind that the numbers in alveolar mucosa were small). Lesions in these two regions were similar, but differed greatly in their frequency and in sex and age distribution.