Small peripheral developing odontoma of the maxilla in a 3-year-old patient depicted on cone-beam tomograms

A 3-year-old male patient was referred to the Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic due to a painless swelling of the right palatal region. Conventional radiographs revealed no alteration of the dentition and did not delineate a lesion in the region of interest. Cone-beam tomography depicted small radiopaque, extraosseous deposits inside the palatal space. Histological examination revealed a minute mixed epithelial-mesenchymal lesion of odontogenic origin. We made the diagnosis of a peripheral developing odontoma, taking into consideration the components and arrangements of structures of the lesion. Early intervention is advisable to prevent these odontogenic lesions from eventually deforming the jaw and displacing adjacent teeth. Cone-beam tomography was a valuable pre-operative diagnostic tool to assess the lesion as being composed in part of hard tissue.