title: Oral and maxillofacial pathologies in young- and middle-aged adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the distribution of oral and maxillofacial pathologies (OMFPs) and its association with patient age in young- and middle-aged adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Distribution of histopathologically diagnosed OMFPs (n = 385) treated during 2007-2010 was recorded and the association with patient age was retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main diagnostic categories included benign exophytic lesions (45.3%), white benign lesions (13.5%), potentially malignant lesions/disorders (10.1%), intrabony lesions (9.8%), mucosal discoloration (7.8%), benign pigmented lesions (7.3%), chronic trauma/inflammation (3.9%), and oral malignancy (2.1%). Potentially malignant lesions/disorders as a diagnostic category were positively associated with age (OR = 1.07 for 1 year; P < 0.001) and specifically the diagnoses of oral lichen planus (OR = 1.04 for 1 year; P = 0.037) and dysplastic changes (OR = 1.08 for 1 year; P = 0.013) that comprised this category. Pigmented melanocytic lesions were negatively associated with age (OR = 0.94 for 1 year; P = 0.039) as well as benign/reactive exophytic lesions (OR = 0.98 for 1 year; P = 0.038), the latter included the histopathological diagnosis of benign salivary gland pathologies (OR = 0.90 for 1 year; P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provided baseline information regarding the distribution OMFPs among young- and middle-aged adults. It is important to highlight the high frequency of potentially malignant lesions/disorders and oral malignancy in young- and middle-aged adults, as these lesions require lifelong follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Oral Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Center, Tel-Hashomer, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Almoznino
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zadik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vered
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yahalom
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Derazne
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Aframian
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Czerninski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010339:Pathology, Oral; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: biopsy; oral and maxillofacial pathologies; oral malignancy; oral medicine; oral surgery; potentially malignant disorder