Odontogenic tumors: a collaborative study of 218 cases diagnosed over 12 years and comprehensive review of the literature.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to analyze the frequency and distribution of odontogenic tumors (OTs) in the Cappadocia region of Turkey, and to compare the findings with those reported in the literature.

STUDY DESIGN: The records of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Pathology Departments at Erciyes University, with histologic diagnosis of odontogenic tumors (based on the World Health Organization classification, 2005), over a 12-year period, were analyzed. The relative frequency of different types of tumors was also analyzed and compared with the literature.

RESULTS: OTs in the present study constituted 2.74% of all the 7,942 registered biopsies. A total of 218 cases of OTs were collected and reviewed. Of these, (94.04%) were benign and (5.96%) were malignant. The mandible was the most commonly affected anatomic location, with 170 cases (77.9%). Ameloblastoma with a predilection for the posterior mandible was the most frequent odontogenic tumor (30.28%), followed by keratocystic odontogenic tumor (19.5%), odontoma (13.4%), and odontogenic myxoma (8.5%).

CONCLUSIONS: OTs are rare neoplasms and appear to show geographic variations in the world. In Cappadocia, Turkey, they are more common in the mandible, with ameloblastoma followed by keratocystic odontogenic tumors with the incidences observed in the present study being similar to those of previous studies from Asia and Africa, and in contrast to those reported from American countries.