Objective: This study aims at contributing to the definitive diagnosis of ossifying fibroma (OF) based on histomorphological features. The study also aims to determine some demographic features of OF, common sites of occurrence and to determine whether behavior correlates well with the histomorphological variations seen in the lesion.
Materials and methods: A total of 80 patients who were diagnosed either as cementifying fibroma CF, OF and cemento-ossifying fibroma (COF) of the jaws from the files of the Oral Pathology Department of the University of the Witwatersrand Dental School were retrieved and the histology slides of each case were reviewed with the most recent diagnostic criteria for OF and the authors additional criteria. A total of 56 cases that met the set criteria were analyzed.
Results: The patients were clustered within the third and fourth decades of life ( n = 39, 69.6%). Majority of the patients were black (83.93%), whereas the rest were whites (12.50%) and Asians (3.57%). There were 17 males (30.4%) and 39 females (69.6%), giving a male to female ratio of 1:2.3. Most of the lesions (70.3%) occurred in the mandible, involving the premolar molar region (56.7%). Scanty fibrous tissues in highly cellular lesions were found in 36 (64.3%) of the cases. There were globular, dystrophic or granular calcifications mixed with irregularly shaped trabeculae of lamellar or cellular woven bone or osteoid were found, in 36 (64.3%) cases.
Conclusion: Demographic data, clinicoradiologic features, combined with histopathology will continue to be relevant in the definitive diagnosis of OF and in predicting its behavior. Highly aggressive lesions with shorter duration in people below 15 years were called juvenile OF and treated as such, while OF applies to other conventional ones.