Management techniques of ameloblastoma: a literature review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ameloblastoma is a benign neoplasm essentially composed of epithelial tissue that has an invasive and infiltrative behavior at local level with a high recurrence rate. The prevalence of tumors and oral cysts is 1%, and the prevalence of odontogenic tumors is about 11%. The etiology is not yet fully known; however, one of the most accepted theories is that the lesion starts developing from remaining cells of the dental lamina, reduced enamel epithelium, Malassez's epithelial rests, or even from a basal cell layer of the epithelium surface. The literature does not report sex-and ethnicity-related occurrence; however, it is known that the most affected anatomical region is the mandible. It is essential to study oral lesions with the purpose of promoting early diagnosis and the most conservative intervention possible. This way, this study is a literature review of works published between 2006 and 2014 conducted to find the existing protocols for the treatment of ameloblastomas.