Ameloblastoma Management: "Horses for Courses" Protocol

The purpose of the article is to review 45 cases of ameloblastoma treated in a tertiary care centre depending on the extent of the pathology, in terms of recurrence and morbidity of the patients.

This was a retrospective study of patients who underwent treatment for ameloblastoma between 2009 and 2018 at Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences, Bangalore. During the first phase of 4 years, the focus of the treatment was on avoiding any recurrence, and therefore, resection followed by reconstruction with reconstruction plates was the only modality used in ten patients. However, from 2014, it was decided to treat each patient based on the extent of the lesion and decide on either conservative management in the form of enucleation followed by peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterisation or resection with safe margins and reconstruction with reconstruction plates.

The study sample consisted of 45 patients, and the ages ranged from 12 to 65 years with an average of 36. There were 30 males and 15 females. In the first phase of treatment protocol adopted, ten patients underwent resection. In the later period, 18 patients were treated by conservative methods and 16 patients were treated by radical management. There were only three recurrences over a period of 3-year follow-up in the group treated conservatively.

Considering the benign nature of the tumour and the morbidity after resection, patients, most of whom are in the younger age group, can still be subjected to conservative treatment provided they are followed up for a long period thus assuring them of a better quality of life.