Swellings of the Jaw

Swellings affecting the alveolar portion of the mandible and the alveolar process of the maxilla are usually included as one entity, namely, the “jaws.” The mandible has many of the characteristics of a long bone, particularly in relation to its vascular supply. The alveolar part of the mandibular ramus represents the lower jaw, whereas the lower part has the inferior alveolar nerve running through it, supplying the teeth and emerging as the mental nerve, to carry sensation from the lower lip and the adjacent labial and buccal mucosa. The maxilla is a bony box, lined by a respiratory type of epithelium, with four processes: frontal, zygomatic, palatal, and alveolar. Its walls are strengthened by bony reinforcements to transmit the occlusal stresses from the teeth to the base of the skull. This chapter discusses swellings of the jaw, which can be classified according to their site of origin into four main categories: swellings arising from the mucoperiosteum (epulides), swellings arising from the tissues responsible for development of teeth (odontomas), swellings arising from non-odontogenic cell remnants (developmental cysts), and swellings arising from the bone proper (bony swellings). It also describes in detail the new methods of reconstruction of the mandible.