The retrocuspid papillae: a clinical evaluation of 51 cases.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to increase the knowledge of dental hygienists and dentists of a normal anatomic gingival structure, the retrocuspid papillae (RCP), so that patients can avoid clinical misinterpretation and unnecessary biopsies.

Methods: In a three-part study, dental hygienists were surveyed on their knowledge of the RCP via questionnaire. Oral examinations of adult patients in a dental hygiene clinic were performed to obtain data on the RCP, and detailed clinical information from the pathology reports of surgically removed RCPs were tabulated.

Gingival fibrous nodule--anomaly or pathology?

Three cases of a relatively common but rarely reported intraoral condition are described. Clinically, this condition appears as an asymptomatic, tumor-like nodule or nodules along the labial anterior mucogingival line and are characterized histologically by an accumulation of dense collagenous tissue. This entity represents a developmental condition and should be distinguished from reactive and neoplastic lesions.