An analysis of the clinical, radiographic, histologic and follow‐up data on 249 cases of lesions of periodontal membrane origin is presented. Such lesions may be cementoid, osteoid, mixed (cemento‐osteoid) or fibrous. These tumors may be single or multiple and usually behave in a benign fashion. Occasionally they may act in an aggressive manner and attain giant size, although none metastasize. The benign fibro‐osseous lesions of periodontal membrane origin are more prevalent in the jaws than fibro‐osseous lesions of medullary bone origin. The use of polarized light was most helpful in distinguishing mature cementoid lesions from tumors with mature lamellar bone; the former have finer lines of parallel birefringence. Fibrous dysplasia has often been misused as a diagnostic term and was found not to be prevalent as a fibro‐osseous jaw lesion. Fibrous dysplasia has its own particular histologic features, and the immature “woven” bone within the lesion polarizes in a random birefringent pattern.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.