Clinical and pathomorphological aspects of odontogenic tumors

Odontogenic tumors (OTs) comprise a group of heterogeneous lesions ranging from hamartomatous or non-neoplastic tissue proliferation to benign or malignant neoplasms with metastatic potential. OTs are derived from epithelial, ectomesenchymal, and/or mesenchymal elements of tooth-forming ("odontogenic") tissues, which show variable clinical and histopathological features.

Herein, the authors summarize the World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 classification of OTs and further highlight diagnostic tips and differential clues for the most common OTs.

OTs may not be commonly encountered in the daily practice of many pathologists. This makes their diagnosis challenging as there is little practice in understanding the features required for their classification. However, diagnosing the vast majority of these lesions is not difficult provided the following aspects are considered: 1) the general knowledge of tooth development; 2) a few key histological observations; 3) very basic knowledge of the clinical and especially the radiographic features with which they are associated.