Abstract
Congenital epulis is a clinical term used to describe benign tumors of the gingival tissue of newborn babies. Occurrence is relatively rare.
This paper is a report of the clinical as well as pathological findings of two cases of congenital epulis, treated in the Pedodontic Clinic of Tsurumi University Dental Hospital.
In the first case, the epulis was found on the mandibular anterior alveolar ridge of a 6 month old Japanese girl. The lesion was a pedunculated mass (13×7×6 mm) pink in color at the first visit, but its color changed afterward to dark red possibly due to hemorrhage into the mass. This color change was a characteristic finding of this case. The epulis was removed electrosurgically under local anesthesia and no recurrence took place. Pathological findings of this lesion were similar to those of the telangiectatic fibrous epulis.
In the second case, the epulis was located on the palatal mucosa of the maxillary incisor region in a 9 month old Japanese boy. The lesion was a pedunculated mass about 7.0 mm in diamiter and ulceration was visible on the distal part of the mass. The maxillary right primary central incisor was unerupted possibly due to the lesion. The epulis was removed electrosurgically under local anesthesia and an impacted supernumerary tooth was also enucleated and recurrence took place. The pathological findings of this lesion were similar to those of the granulomatous epulis.
In regard to the origin of these congenital epulis, the clinical findings suggested that these cases were related respectively to the hypoplastic mandibular left primary incisor and the impacted supernumerary tooth, but pathological evidence to support this was not found.
