Prevalence and risk factors of recurrences of odontogenic lesions of the jaws in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Much emphasis has been placed on the occurrence of odontogenic lesions – odontogenic cysts and jaw tumors; however, little is known about the prevalence of recurrence of such lesions and the risk factors associated with them. Aim: The goal of this research was to ascertain the prevalence of recurrences of odontogenic lesions of the jaws and the variables that contribute to their recurrence. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study that investigated the records of the patients histologically diagnosed with jaw lesions at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of our hospital between January 2013 and December 2021. The information retrieved from the records included the age, gender, site of the lesion, the cell of origin of the lesion, type of lesion, histopathological diagnosis, and the number of malignant and recurrent lesions. The potential predictors were age, gender, site of the lesion, cell of origin of lesion, type of lesion, histopathological diagnosis, and malignant or benign. The outcome variable was the recurrence of the lesion. All data were statistically analyzed. Results: Odontogenic lesions were found in 210 of the 513 individuals with jaw lesions in this investigation, representing a prevalence of 40.9%. The participants ranged in age from 7 to 78 years old, with an average age of 35.2 ± 15.0 years. The sex ratio was 1.3, with a male preponderance. The prevalence of odontogenic tumors and cysts was 86.2% and 13.8%, respectively, among the 210 patients with odontogenic lesions. The odontogenic lesion in this study had a recurrence rate of 17.1%. The recurrence of odontogenic lesions differed significantly (P < 0.05) depending on the jaw affected, the odontogenic lesion’s cell of origin, and the histological type of odontogenic lesions. In comparison to the mandible, the maxilla was 3.4 times more likely to have a recurrence and this was statistically significant (P = 0.01). Conclusions: In our analysis, there was a reasonably high prevalence of odontogenic lesions, with a greater recurrence rate in the maxilla than in the mandible. Patients with odontogenic lesions in the maxilla should be treated and monitored long term for optimum treatment outcomes.