The aims of this study were to describe the frequency of odontogenic tumours (OT) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) 4th edition of Head and Neck Tumours in Turkey, to compare the results with other regions and to assess the frequency changes of OT worldwide after the new WHO classification. OT were selected from the pathology department's files between 1971-2018. In a total of 1231 OT, 1215 (98.7%) were benign, whereas malignant OT were only 16 cases (1.3%). The three most common tumours were ameloblastoma (n=366, 29.7%), odontoma (n=335, 27.2% both complex and compound types), and odontogenic myxoma (n=190, 15.4%), respectively. After the 2017 classification, the decrease of OT frequency was found among 20%-42% in the selected epidemiological series because of re-classification of some lesions. The pattern of incidence in the Turkish population is similar to that in other populations. However, there are some differences in the frequency of the tumour types. It is obvious that the relative frequency of odontogenic tumours worldwide will change based on the new classification. It should be kept in mind that this is not a real decrease of OT cases. These marked changes in the frequency and prevalence of OT is just related to reclassification of some entities.
Keywords: Odontogenic tumours; WHO; ameloblastoma; classification; odontogenic keratocyst; update.
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