The most frequent and/or important lesions that affect the face and the jaws.

INTRODUCTION: The radiology of the most important and/or frequent lesions affecting the bones of the face and jaws has been set out in this review and pictorial essay.

METHODS: The latter is composed of multiple images displaying one or more key radiological features derived from almost every one of the most important and/ or frequent lesion affecting the face and the jaws. These images have been grouped together in 18 figures, each served by a detailed and free-standing legend. These lesions are outlined in a flowchart, which focuses on one or at most two radiological features in turn.

RESULTS: It begins with those lesions that could indicate systemic disease, such as multiple lesions, and then proceeds onward to single lesions. The first of these single lesions are the neoplasms which need not only an early diagnosis, but also complete ablation in the majority of cases. Cystic lesions are then next, including consideration of the frequently occurring non-cysts such as simple bone cysts and lingual bone defects which require no treatment. Finally, it ends with the periapical radiolucency of inflammatory origin.

CONCLUSION: The most important and/or frequent lesions affecting the bones of the face and jaws that present to the oral and maxillofacial clinician can be considered systematically en route to the 'periapical radiolucency of inflammatory origin,' which is one of the most usually encountered lesions in clinical dentistry.