The pattern of odontogenic tumors in a government teaching hospital in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu

ObjectiveThis hospital-based study was designed to provide demographic data on odontogenic tumors from the southern Indian population in the state of Tamil Nadu for comparison with pertinent series from other geographic regions.Study designA total of 489 cases of odontogenic tumors registered over a period of 38 years (February 1970-March 2008) in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of Tamil Nadu Government Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, India, were retrieved from the files of histopathology registers and were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsOdontogenic tumors in the present study constituted 4.13% of all the 11,843 registered biopsies. The mandible was the most commonly affected anatomic location, with 362 cases (74.02%). Ameloblastoma with a predilection for posterior mandible was the most frequent odontogenic tumor (67.69%), followed by adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (9%), odontoma (7.77%), and calcifying odontogenic cyst (5.52%). The patients were affected over a wide age range of 5-75 years with a mean age of 32.64 years and peak occurrence in the second and third decades of life. Among the 489 cases, only 15 (3.07%) were malignant.ConclusionThe relative frequency of 4.13% of odontogenic tumors observed in this study, which is the largest series from this part of the world. Ameloblastoma formed the single most common tumor of all odontogenic tumors. This study observed both regional and geographic variations in the frequency and distribution of odontogenic tumors.