In this multicentre retrospective study 30 patients with benign salivary gland tumours are reviewed. Initial operation consisted of total parotidectomy in 6 patients, superficial lobectomy in 13 and tumour enucleation in 11. There were 5 recurrences, treated by enucleation in 1, superficial lobectomy in 2 and extensive total resection in 2 patients. In 18 cases a typical facial nerve dissection was performed. The resected specimens showed a pleiomorph adenoma in 24 cases and monomorph adenoma's in 6 cases. Complications were haematoma formation, Frey syndrome and facial nerve paresis. Recurrences were related to incomplete resection or fragmentation during operation. In this study benign tumours of the salivary glands proved to have a good prognosis, provided a total tumour excision with nerve dissection is performed; the excision should consist of a superficial lobectomy or total parotidectomy depending on the location of the tumour in the lateral or medial part of the gland.