Benign osteoblastoma or osteoid osteoma of the maxilla. Report of a case.

A case of a benign osteoblastoma or osteoid osteoma in the maxilla of a 20-year-old female, treated by a conservative surgical approach, has been reported. It has been suggested, as has been done by others in the past, to consider the benign osteoblastoma and the osteoid osteoma of the jaw bones as one entity of osteoblastic derivation rather than using arbitrary distinguishing factors such as size. Apart from the relation between osteoblastoma and osteoid osteoma, the relation between osteoblastoma and cementoblastoma is discussed, the most important distinguishing factor apparently being the true attachment to the root cementum of a tooth. In the list of differential diagnoses, the cementifying or ossifying fibroma should also be taken into account.