Central odontogenic fibroma current concepts.

The author reviews current knowledge concerning the central odontogenic fibroma, which at present in incompletely understood, and reaches the following conclusions. 1) The separation of this lesion into simple and WHO types remains valid because they exhibit different histologic features. However, more care should be taken in rendering the diagnosis of the WHO type than in the past; unlike the simple type, it is a fibroblastic lesion. 2) Complex central odontogenic fibroma is a more appropriate term than the WHO type because the WHO does not use the latter term in its 1992 manual. 3) The microscopic distinction of simple odontogenic fibroma from desmoplastic fibroma remains difficult in some cases. 4) The granular cell odontogenic tumor, which has sometimes been referred to as a type of odontogenic fibroma, is a separate entity, although some simple odontogenic fibromas exhibit scattered granular cells. 5) The separation of lesions that have been reported recently as odontogenic fibromas with giant cell reactions from central giant cell granulomas that exhibit foci of odontogenic epithelium requires further study.