Oral pediatric pathologies: Incidence and demography – An institutional study in Delhi, India

Objective: Development and growth is at its most dynamic phase before adolescence. The increased awareness of early diagnosis having a better prognosis has led to the identification of many oral pathologies in a pediatric population. While many profiles of oral biopsies from children are available, the role of regional and geographic variations could be ascertained through periodic evaluation and data collection. The main aim of this retrospective study was to assess the distribution, frequency, and type of pediatric cases that are seen in a dental setting catering to predominantly lower socioeconomic strata of population in a region of Delhi, India. Materials and Methods: Archives of biopsies submitted to the department of oral and maxillofacial pathology were taken from the year 2012 to 2018 and all cases under the age of 13 or below were included in the study. A total of 851 archived cases were retrieved, of which 60 fulfilled our criteria for case selection. The available data were categorized into seven groups according to (1) age (0–4, 5–8, and 9–13 years), (2) sex, (3) site (area affected and intra-/extraosseous), (4) inflammatory/reactive, (5) cystic (odontogenic {inflammatory/developmental}/ non-odontogenic), (6) neoplastic ([a] odontogenic/non-odontogenic and [b] benign/malignant), and (7) others (infections). Results: The analysis showed that most of the lesions were within the 9–13 years age group (61.66%) with male gender predominance, M:F ratio being 1.6:1. The lesions were mostly extraosseous (n = 34) with mandible being commonly afflicted (36.6%). Among the pathologic cases, the lesions were mostly non-odontogenic with the mucocele appearing as the most common reactive lesion. The incidence of radicular cyst (n = 5) was found to be higher among the odontogenic cystic lesions (n = 12). One (rhabdomyosarcoma) out of 10 neoplastic lesions was malignant Benign:Malignant ratio (9:1). While ameloblastoma was seen as the common benign odontogenic tumor, the ossifying fibroma was predominant among the non-odontogenic group. Tuberculosis followed by osteomyelitis was seen to be prevalent under the category of infections. Conclusion: This study helps us to observe the common lesions or conditions afflicting children in this part of India and their association with age, sex, and site. It was found that a higher incidence of reactive lesion is present in this age group, while the neoplastic lesions are predominantly benign similar to other studies.