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Classification of cemento-osseous lesions of the jaws has long been a dilemma for pathologists. A group of 221 cemento-osseous lesions exhibited sufficiently distinctive clinicopathologic features to be separated into a specific category: focal cemento-osseous dysplasia. This entity presents as an asymptomatic, focal, mixed radiolucent/radiopaque lesion with ill-defined borders in the tooth-bearing areas. It was found to occur with greater frequency in women (88%) and in the posterior mandible (77%). The average age at presentation was 37 years and a relative predilection for black patients was observed. At surgery these lesions were noted to be hemorrhagic, gritty, and adherent to the surrounding bone. The gross appearance of multiple hemorrhagic fragments is of diagnostic significance. Histologic features include a cellular connective tissue stroma punctuated by irregular osseous and/or cementum-like calcifications. Focal cemento-osseous dysplasia is thought to be of periodontal ligament origin and to be non-neoplastic in nature. Further surgical intervention is not necessary, but periodic follow-up is recommended, because occasional cases were observed to progress into florid osseous dysplasia. Care must be taken to differentiate focal cemento-osseous dysplasia from central cementifying and/or ossifying fibromas, which are true neoplasms and require surgical treatment.

In Japan 114 cases of osteosarcoma of the maxillofacial region have been reported during the past 60 years. The average age at the onset of the disease in this region was about one or two decades later than that of osteosarcoma of other regions. Females were affected more frequently (59.6%) than males (40.4%). The mandible was more frequently affected (58.8%) than the maxilla (41.2%). Swelling was the conspicuous symptom for osteosarcoma of the maxillofacial region. Most patients received surgical treatment with or without radiation and chemotherapy; however, the prognosis is poor, regardless of the type of treatment.

Burkitt's lymphoma is a malignancy of B-lymphocyte origin that was initially described in African children with jaw tumors. These tumors often spread to involve abdominal viscera and other sites, have rapid growth kinetics, and are principally responsive to chemotherapy. Prolonged survival is predicted by site and extent of tumor, with bone marrow and central nervous system involvement being indicators of a poor prognosis. The dental practitioner plays an important role in diagnosis of jaw lesions and treatment throughout the course of the disease. An examination of 17 cases of Burkitt's lymphoma diagnosed at The North Carolina Memorial Hospital, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, over a 10-year period is undertaken and an illustrative case study is presented to demonstrate the challenge of caring for the patient with Burkitt's lymphoma.

The patients reported on here were seen and treated in the Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology, Division of Dentistry, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, between September, 1969, and September, 1974. Materials for histopathologic examination came from tissues removed at biopsy or surgical excision of the lesions. Out of a total of about 200 benign and malignant lesions of the oral cavity seen during the 5-year period (all cysts excluded), twenty-nine (15 per cent) were tumors arising from the odontogenic tissues as follows: ameloblastoma, nineteen; ameloblastic fibroma, two; adrenomatoid odontogenic tumor, two; ameloblastic fibro-odontoma, one; odontoma, two; cementoma, two; and calcifying odontogenic cyst, one. The author had the privilege of seeing all the patients and examining all the biopsy and surgical specimens.

The clinical features, incidence and pattern of jaw involvement, and seasonal occurrence in relation to 22 patients with Burkitt's lymphoma in the Cape province and Southwest Africa were analyzed. The mean age, male dominance, and pattern of organ involvement paralleled typical African Burkitt's lymphoma. Development of the patients' disease was more likely during the rainy season. The frequency and pattern of jaw involvement resembled typical African Burkitt's lymphoma. The frequency of jaw involvement was similar in white and nonwhite patients. Members of all racial groups had typical African Burkitt's lymphoma.