Clinical and histological features of gingival lesions: a 17-year retrospective analysis in a northern Italian population.
OBJECTIVE
Only few studies on gingival lesions considered large enough populations and contemporary literature does not provide a valid report regarding the epidemiology of gingival lesions within the Italian population. The histopathological and clinical appearance of 538 gingival lesions from northern Italians are described and discussed here.


METHODS
The case records of patients referred for the diagnosis and management of gingival lesions, from October 1993 to October 2009, were reviewed. Data regarding the histological type of lesion were also obtained from the biopsy register for each case, and blindly re-examined.


RESULTS
We reported a greater frequency of benign lesions (reactive and/or inflammatory) in non-plaque/non-calculus induced gingival disorders. We confirmed an unambiguous prevalence of oral squamous cell carcinoma above all other malignant neoplasia, and a prevalence of neoplastic malignant lesions in the maxilla, with a slight increase in females and a drift of the incidence peak from the seventh to the eighth decade. There was a prevalence of precancerous gingival lesions in the maxilla, with a higher incidence in females and with a drift from the sixth to the seventh decade. We also reported a prevalence of oral lichen planus and lichenoid lesions as major manifestations of desquamative gingivitis.


CONCLUSIONS
The high frequency of gingival involvement of such different diseases emphasizes the importance of histological characterization and differential diagnosis for periodontists, but more prospective studies are needed to better describe the true incidence of the non-plaque related gingival diseases.
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Oral Medicine Section, Lingotto Dental School, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Mario
M
Carbone
Roberto
R
Broccoletti
Alessio
A
Gambino
Marco
M
Carrozzo
Carlotta
C
Tanteri
Pier-Luigi
PL
Calogiuri
Davide
D
Conrotto
Sergio
S
Gandolfo
Monica
M
Pentenero
Paolo-Giacomo
PG
Arduino
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult