ABSTRACT

Background: Tumours of odontogenic origin (OTs) resulting from epithelial and mesenchymal elements that are part of the tooth-forming apparatus must be considered as a differential diagnosis when analysing jaw lesions. They may be cystic, myxomatous or sometimes have a mixture of cystic and solid areas.

Objective: To analyse the OTs seen at the Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria, between 2001 and 2013 based on the World Health Organization’s 2005 classification of OTs.

Methods: A retrospective search and analysis was conducted of the medical records of all patients with a histopathologic diagnosis of orofacial tumours and tumour-like lesions seen at the Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria, from 2001 to 2013.

Results: Odontogenic tumours constituted 179 (15.3%) cases out of a total of 1170 orofacial tumours and tumour-like lesions seen within the study period. The 179 OTs were found in 101 (56.4%) males and 78 (43.6%) females, giving a male to female ratio of 1.3:1. The ages of the patients ranged from 12 to 88 years (mean, standard deviation: 33.31, 14.07 years). The lesions were predominantly benign (n = 176; 98.3%), with only three (1.7%) being malignant OTs.

Conclusion: The distribution of OTs in this study compared well with that in previous reports from Nigeria.