Prevalence and Pattern of Idiopathic Osteosclerosis and Condensing Osteitis in a Saudi Subpopulation

Cureus. 2022 Feb 15;14(2):e22234. doi: 10.7759/cureus.22234. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Background This study aims to investigate the prevalence and pattern of idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO) and condensing osteitis (CO) in the jaws of a Saudi Arabian subpopulation with regards to gender, age, shape, localization, and tooth relationship. Methodology Digital panoramic and periapical radiographs with clinical data of 1,000 patients at King Abdulaziz University Dental Hospital were analyzed to determine the incidence of IO and CO lesions in relation to age, gender, location in the jaws, and dental status of the associated tooth. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Results Out of the 752 patients (495 females, 257 males), IO was identified in 66 (8.8%) patients, while 44 (5.9%) patients had CO. IO occurred more in females (68.2%) than males (31.8%). CO had a statistically significant higher rate of occurrence in females (81.8%) than males (18.2%) (P ≤ 0.05). IO and CO lesions were observed to be higher in individuals in their third decade, and 100% were in the mandibular molar area. Almost half of the identified IO (48.5%) had a rounded shape radiopacity, while CO mostly appeared irregular (63.6%). Conclusions The prevalence of IO and CO in the studied Saudi subpopulation was low. Both lesions were more frequent in females in their third decade and were primarily found in the mandibular molar region.

Keywords: bony islands; condensing osteitis; idiopathic osteosclerosis; mandible; prevalence.