Odontogenic tumors in Mexico: a collaborative retrospective study of 349 cases

Reports about the frequency of odontogenic tumors are scarce, and diagnostic criteria used in the reports are not uniform. This article presents the results of a retrospective study of odontogenic tumors recorded in four services of diagnostic pathology in Mexico City (two dental schools, one cancer hospital, and one private oral pathology service). The final diagnosis in each case was based on the 1992 histologic criteria of the World Health Organization. The frequency of odontogenic tumors, expressed as a percent of all oral and maxillofacial specimens, ranged from 0.8% in the cancer hospital (0.02% of all biopsies) to 3.7% in the private oral pathology service. The frequency was identical for the two dental schools (2.5%). We found a total of 349 odontogenic tumors; of these, 345 were benign (98.8%), and 4 (1.1%) were malignant (3 were primary intraosseous carcinomas and 1 was a malignant ameloblastoma). The most frequently occurring tumors were odontoma (34.6%), ameloblastoma (23.7%), myxoma (17.7%), adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (7.1%), and calcifying odontogenic cyst (6.8%). Although relatively rare, odontogenic tumors are still an important cause of extensive surgical procedures in Mexico.