A 4-year prospective study on epidemiology and clinicopathological presentation of odontogenic tumors in Tanzania

This study, conducted between 1999 and 2003, included all patients with odontogenic tumors referred from all dental clinics and other health facilities in Tanzania to the only 4 referral centers. Demographic data and clinical and histopathologic findings were recorded. Histopathologic specimens were examined by expert pathologists. Ameloblastoma had the highest relative frequency (80.1%) and an incidence rate of 0.68 per million, followed by odontogenic myxoma (7.0%) with an incidence rate of 0.07 per million. Follow-ups of between 6 months and 4 years were carried out. Two patients developed recurrences of ameloblastoma. The incidence of ameloblastoma in this exclusively black African population did not differ from that of European countries. This is contrary to the belief that ameloblastoma has a higher incidence in black Africans as compared to Caucasians.