Ameloblastoma is a relatively rare odontogenic tumour that is benign but locally aggressive. Additionally they tend to recur locally. These are rare accounting for 1% of oral tumours and occur almost exclusively in the jaws. It is more common in the mandible and occurs in the angle region. Because of its locally aggressive nature and recurring tendencies, it has traditionally been treated quite aggressively with wide local excision, marginal or sectional resections. The authors discuss the management of this lesion using a 19-year-old female a patient as an example. The patient presented with a large cyst that on OPG had a large radiolucent lesion around the third molar and in the ascending ramus of the mandible. This was treated with decompression and daily irrigation. Following this a further procedure to enucleate this was carried out. Carnoys solution was used at this stage and three years postoperatively the patient is well with no recurrence. This does confirm that a less radical approach in the treatment is possible at least for some types of unicystic ameloblastomas. This is a well written and succinct paper quite pertinent for surgeons that operate in the maxillofacial region.
A conservative approach to treat ameloblastoma
Reviewed by Sunil K Bhatia
Conservative approach: using decompression procedure for management of a large unicystic ameloblastoma of the mandible.
