A retrospective multicentre study of cystic lesions and odontogenic tumours in older people.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and some characteristics of odontogenic tumours, odontogenic cysts and non-odontogenic cysts in an elderly population (≥60 years).

Background: Few studies describe the distribution of oral lesions in older people.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study was performed. Biopsy records were obtained from the archives of four Brazilian referral centres between 2000 and 2016. Data such as gender, age, anatomical location, symptomatology and histopathological diagnosis were collected and categorised. Statistical analyses were performed adopting a P-value of ≤.05 and a 95% confidence interval.

Results: A total of 7259 biopsy records of elderly participants were analysed; 642 cases were cystic lesions and odontogenic tumours, 491 of which being classified as odontogenic cysts (76.5%), 75 as odontogenic tumours (11.7%) and 76 as non-odontogenic cysts (11.8%). The most frequent lesions in each group were radicular cyst (n = 268), ameloblastoma (n = 51) and salivary duct cyst (n = 21), respectively. Overall, women were more affected (n = 351, mean age: 68 years). Intraosseous lesions were more common in the mandible (n = 342), and soft tissue cysts occurred more in the lip (n = 13).

Conclusion: Odontogenic cysts were relatively common, whereas odontogenic tumours and non-odontogenic cysts were rarer among the older people studied in the present investigation.