Abstract:
Back ground: Odontogenic tumor (OT) comprise a large heterogeneous group of lesions arising
from the tooth producing tissues or its remnants. It ranges from hamartomatous or non-neoplastic
proliferations to benign and malignant neoplasm with variable aggressiveness and metastatic
potential. OTs cause facial disfiguring that necessitates subsequent reconstructive surgery.
Studies on OTs are scare in Ethiopia. Thus, this study was aimed to assess the pattern and trend
of OTs in Ethiopia.
Methods: An 8 years retrospective study was conducted at the Dental and Maxillofacial
Department, St. Paul’s hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The data was collected by reviewing the
medical cards of patients visited the department from 2008 to 2015 by using checklist. Data such
as age, gender, duration of lesion, location of the tumors, size of the tumors, type of tumors, type
of surgical treatment, and complaints during follow-up were reviewed. All the collected data
were then coded, checked, edited and entered to SPSS windows 16. Finally, the data was
analyzed by descriptive statistics, and logistic regression.
Results: A total of 448 patient’s socio-demographic, and clinical data were reviewed from the
registry book of patients who were diagnosed with OT. The complete data set was obtained for
163 patients, comprising 88(54 %) males and 75 (46 %) females. The mean age of patients was
34, with a range of (9–80 years. 132 (81.0 %) of the OTs were benign, and the remaining 31(19.0
%) were malignant OTS. Concerning the location of OTs, 37 (22.3 %) occurred in the maxilla,
and the vast majority 126 (77.3 %) in the mandible. Ameloblastoma with predilection for the
mandible was the most frequent OT (46 %), followed by odontogenic myxoma (8.6 %),
keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KCOT) (6.1 %), and odontogenic fibroma (6.1 %).
Interestingly, 128 (82.8 %) of the patients had primary surgical treatment. Nonetheless,
malocclusion, facial disfigurement, and continuity defect were complications seen frequently.
Conclusion: OTs were found in both genders with similar proportion. Furthermore, benign OT
was predominant over malignant OTs. Regular checkup and/or visit to dentists could help early
case detection, and management of OT.
II
Acknowledgements
First of all I am very glad to thank my first supervisor Dr. Fessahaye Alemseged. Dr. Fessahaye,
I am sincerely indebted to you for your great advices, insightful comments and remains
throughout the development of this thesis. Thank you for your time, and friendly guidance.
Second, my sincere gratitude goes to my second supervisor Dr. Dawit Teare for his in-depth
comments towards my thesis.
Third, I am thankful to St. Paul’s Hospital for allowing me to have access to the medical records
of patients. Also my gratitude to the Hospital’s data records service for helping in sorting and
compiling the medical cards.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Department of Dentistry, Jimma University for giving
me the opportunity to study my specialization program, and explore this thesis.