Benign odontogenic tumours: Clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic aspects of a sixteen years sample.

AIM: An original sample of benign odontogenic tumours collected over a period of 16 years has been evaluated as to its clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic aspects. METHODS: Data collection included a retrospective study from January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1999 and a prospective study from January 1, 2000 to December 1, 2002. RESULTS: A total number of 53 benign odontogenic tumours were collected; 9 different types of tumours were found with a slight prevalence in males rather than in females (1.2:1). The medium age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 28.6 years. Odontomas represented the most frequent tumour, about 53% of the sample. The mandible was more interested (71%) than the maxillary bones and in only 63.5% of the sample symptoms or signs were present at the discovery time. The surgical treatment was almost always conservative with enucleation of the pathological tissue and the curettage of the residual bone cavity. CONCLUSIONS: Odontogenic tumours are more frequently diagnosed in the first three decades of life and therefore they can interfere with the physiological growth of the dento-skeletal apparatus. An early radiographic screening is therefore important to reveal these tumours at an initial stage of their development, when clinical signs or symptoms are not yet present. Due to the usual small size and the benign behaviour of these tumours, a conservative surgical approach is almost always effective in their treatment.