A seven-year-old girl was referred to the Department of Periodontology of the Semmelweis
University with a symmetric bilateral, painless, non-inflammatory diffuse enlargement
on the lingual aspects of her lower jaw. The family history revealed that her mother
and elder sister had Recklinghausen's disease with typical characteristic dermatological
signs and they are registered by the National NF Registry. Extraoral examination revealed
an evident protrusion of the lips. Intraorally, the buccal gingiva around the upper
and lower teeth appeared normal. The little patient had neither dermal nor oral mucous
membrane signs characteristic of NF1. With the consent of her parents, the lingual
firm mass of gingival enlargement was excised under local anesthesia and the removed
tissue was histologically analyzed. The histology approved the clinical diagnosis
as solitary neurofibroma. The postoperative healing was uneventful. Because of her
very young age and the subtotal excision of the tumor, the patient has been regularly
monitored. After one and a half years, recurrence or other sign of tumor regrowth
have not been observed. The panoramic radiograph showed normal bone morphology and
an age-related dental status with mixed dentition and undisturbed tooth eruption.
The present case with a midline bilateral diffuse gingival overgrowth in the mouth
of a 7-year-old girl without any characteristic dermatological signs in a family with
genetically proven Recklinghausen's disease is very rare and unique in the literature.
Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(22): 924-930.
