Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Denture-Associated Epulis Fissuratum: A Systematic Review

Background: The purpose of this systematic review is to understand the epidemiology, risk factors, reporting symptoms, and clinical presentation of denture-induced epulis fissuratum and the various management strategies reported in the literature. Methods: This review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA 2022 guidelines and was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42024517759). A systematic electronic search from scientific databases was performed from inception to July 2024. All studies (cross-sectional, observational, and clinical trials), case reports, and case series in the English language addressing the epidemiological and clinical characteristics, as well as the management strategies for prosthetic denture-induced oral epulis fissuratum, were included. The relevant search terms and Boolean operators were employed. Results: A total of 408 articles were obtained from various databases. A total of 41 articles were included for data extraction, of which 20 were case reports and 21 were clinical studies. There were a total of 1472 patients from the included reports. Eighty-two patients had symptomatic epulis fissuratum. A total of 96 patients (6.5%) in the 18 included reports had complete resolution of the lesion following treatment. Conclusions: Diagnosis is primarily based on the pathognomonic clinical presentation of these lesions. Although multiple therapeutic approaches for epulis fissuratum have been described in the literature, a universally accepted or standardized treatment protocol has not yet been established.