A Rare Oral Focal Mucinosis Presentation in the Aesthetic Zone: A Case Report.
The current case report presents a rare oral pathology of Oral Focal Mucinosis.
The patient developed marginal gingival inflammation subsequent to esthetic crown lengthening surgery.
The differential diagnosis included candidal infection, foreign body gingivitis, and
Desquamative Gingivitis.
Treatment of OFM is excisional biopsy, however; its location near the gingival margin in the aesthetic zone required a minimally invasive surgical approach. Therefore, a less invasive treatment using corticosteroids was administered, leading to resolution of the inflammation.
Oral Focal Mucinosis is an asymptomatic, benign soft tissue lesion of unknown
etiology. It presents as a pedunculated or sessile growth with most cases occurring in women.
OFM involves the keratinized oral mucosa, with 80% of the lesions developing on the gingiva
and the remainder on the palate. Although Tomich
first reported 8 cases of the lesions as the oral
counterpart of cutaneous focal mucinosis, it is now recognized that OFM is a separate clinical
entity. Bharti and Singh stated that 57 cases of OFM have been reported in the English literature
and 3 in the Indian literature.
OFM lesions are difficult to diagnose because they have no distinct clinical features.
Therefore, they are often diagnosed as gingival hyperplasia, fibroma, pyogenic granuloma or
fibrous epulis.
1-18 Histopathology of OFM shows a focal myxoid degeneration of the connective
tissue, possibly due to the over production of hyaluronic acid by fibroblasts during collagen
production, and is the definitive diagnosis for OFM.
Dent Open J. 2016; 2(5): 132- 136. doi: 10.17140/DOJ-2-124