A case of epulis with dentin formation possibly arising from dental papilla

Most congenital teeth lack dental root formation and show remarkable mobility. They are often extracted owing to the risk of accidental ingestion and aspiration caused by abscission. Mass lesions including hard tissue formation rarely appear after tooth extraction or abscission. We report a case of epulis arising in the presumptive root formation region of congenital teeth, which progressed after tooth extraction, in an 8-month-old girl. The provisional clinical diagnosis was epulis fibrosa, and the mass was excised with the patient under local anesthesia. Histopathological examination revealed mesenchymal tissue proliferation accompanied by dentin formation, suggesting that the dental papilla participated in its occurrence. The prognosis was good as of 16 months after surgery.