Frequency of Odontogenic Tumors: A Single Center Study of 1089 Cases in Japan and Literature Review

Several attempts have been made to classify odontogenic tumors; however, the need for a uniform international classification system led the World Health Organization (WHO) to present a classification of odontogenic tumors in 1971. We aimed to evaluate the number and types of odontogenic tumors examined at the Tokyo Dental College Hospital in Japan to determine the frequency and types of odontogenic tumors, based on the 2017 WHO classification system, as this information has not been reported previously in Japan. We also compared the results of our evaluation with those reported in previous studies. We conducted a clinicopathological evaluation of odontogenic tumors examined at the Tokyo Dental College Hospital between 1975 and 2020. This included an analysis of 1089 cases (malignant, n = 10, 0.9%; benign, n = 1079, 99.1%) based on the 2017 World Health Organization Classification of Head and Neck Tumors. We identified 483 (44.3%), 487 (44.7%), and 109 (10.0%) benign epithelial odontogenic, mixed odontogenic, and mesenchymal tumors, respectively. The most common tumor types were odontoma (42.5%) and ameloblastoma (41.9%). Of the 1089 cases, 585 (53.7%) and 504 (46.3%) were male and female patients, respectively. Ameloblastoma and ameloblastic fibroma occurred more commonly in male patients, whereas odontogenic fibroma and cemento-ossifying fibroma affected female patients primarily. The age at diagnosis ranged from three to 87 (mean, 29.05) years. In 319 (29.3%) patients, the age at diagnosis ranged from 10 to 19 years. Ameloblastoma and odontoma were the most common tumor types among patients in their 20s and those aged 10-19 years, respectively. In 737 (67.7%) and 726 (66.7%) patients, the tumors were located in the mandible and posterior region, respectively. Ameloblastoma was particularly prevalent in the posterior mandible. Odontogenic tumors are rare lesions and appear to show a definite geographic variation.