Non-neoplastic jaw cysts: a 30-year epidemiological study of 2150 cases in the Italian population

Non-neoplastic jaw cyst (NJC) is one of the most common lesions in oral cavity, but there are only few detailed and extended epidemiological data based on the 2017 WHO classification. The aim of this study was to perform an epidemiological analysis of all NJCs treated from 1990 to 2019 at the Marche Polytechnic University, and to compare these data with those published in the literature. This retrospective study considered 2060 patients treated from 1990 to 2019. The NJCs were classified according to the 2017 WHO classification, and the main clinicopathological variables were analysed (sex, age, diagnosis, site of onset, size, and recurrences). Of 2150 total lesions, there were 2095 primary cysts and 55 recurrences; men are more frequently affected than women (M/F ratio of 1.73:1). The mean age of occurrence was 46.6 years, with a peak of frequency in the fifth decade. The mandible was more frequently involved than the maxilla, with a mean size of 1.9 cm. Radicular cyst was the most frequently diagnosed cyst (56.6%), followed by dentigerous cyst (23.4%) and odontogenic keratocyst (12.9%). This is the first epidemiological study on NJCs in the Italian population according to 2017 WHO classification.