Ameloblastoma of the jaws: Management and recurrence rate.

INTRODUCTION: Ameloblastoma is a rare, benign odontogenic tumour associated with a high recurrence rate. It accounts for 1% of all tumours of the jaws. The purpose of this study was to compare the ameloblastoma recurrence rate according to the type of treatment: radical or conservative.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients with a diagnosis of ameloblastoma between 1991 and 2013 were retrospectively identified in order to extract topographic, radiological, and histological data and the type of treatment: conservative (marsupialization, enucleation, curettage) or radical (segmental resection) and to compare the recurrence rate according to the type of treatment.

RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients were included, managed by conservative treatment (CT) in 22 cases and radical treatment (RT) in 14 cases. The recurrence rate was 90.9% in the CT group and 9.1% in the RT group (P=0.025) with a mean follow-up of 56.2 months.

DISCUSSION: The recurrence rate after conservative treatment was higher than that after radical treatment. These results are similar to those reported in the literature. The choice of treatment must be adapted to the macroscopic and histological characteristics of each tumour and to the patient.