A review of pediatric oral biopsies from a surgical pathology service in a dental school.

This report presents a review of results from 2370 biopsies of patients up to 20 years of age received over 11 years in the biopsy service at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The computerized data were retrieved and compiled for site, age, sex, race, and diagnosis of the biopsies. The lesions were divided into 1) inflammatory and reactive, 2) cystic, 3) neoplastic, and 4) other anomalies. The patients were divided into three racial groups: whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Whites were in the majority (57%), blacks were the next most prevalent (26%), and Hispanics were the smallest group (17%). Private practitioners were the major source of the biopsies. The predominant site of the biopsies was periodontium followed by the lips. Inflammatory and reactive lesions formed the largest group of biopsies (66.1%) followed by neoplasms (11.2%) and cystic lesions (10.7%). Mucus extravasation phenomenon was the most common lesion followed by periapical granuloma, periapical cyst, dentigerous cyst, pyogenic granuloma, and papilloma. Three malignancies and five ameloblastomas also were found.