Central ossifying fibroma is the most common benign fibro-osseous neoplasm of the jaw. It is not easy to diagnose ossifying fibroma because its clinical, radiographic, and hist-ologic criteria often overlaps with other fibro-osseous lesions. Based on the analysis of 20 cases, this article describes all the manifestations of central ossifying fibroma and some of the differences with the so-called juvenile active ossifying fibroma. Photographs and radio-graphs of 2 cases showing a number of all the clinical and radiographic features of central ossifying fibroma are presented. The surgical procedure of these cases is also illustrated. (Quintessence Int 2007;38:221–227)

Key words: benign fibro-osseous lesion, cemento-ossifying fibroma, central ossifying fibroma