Misdiagnosis of a Paediatric Fibrous Dysplasia of the Mandible

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a chronic benign bone lesion, mainly affecting young individuals, that could be monostotic or polyostotic in nature leading to the replacement of normal bone with the excess proliferation of fibrous tissue. Patients are usually asymptomatic and are incidentally diagnosed after an oral imaging. The first symptom is typically the painless growth of the affected bone, presenting as facial asymmetry. Here, we present a case of an 18-year-old female patient with a recent diagnosis of right mandibular fibrous dysplasia who was misdiagnosed for the past seven years. The physical examination indicated the presence of hard right submandibular swelling, and imaging confirmed fibrous dysplasia of the right mandible with involvement of the right alveolar foramen and oedematous changes of the right masseter muscle. This case highlights the familiarity of fibrous dysplasia of the mandible in young patients and emphasizes the importance of careful investigation measures and multidisciplinary collaboration in achieving correct diagnosis and management for such challenging cases.