Odontogenic Tumors: Diagnostic Tests

The diagnosis of an odontogenic tumor is usually made on the basis of the patient’s history, clinical course, and physical examination. Further medical device diagnostics may be required for differential diagnosis.

Obligatory medical device diagnostics

  • Radiographs

Optional medical device diagnostics – depending on the results of the medical history, physical examination, laboratory diagnostics – for differential diagnostic clarification.

  • Digital volume tomography (DVT) – radiological imaging procedure that provides a three-dimensional representation of the anatomy of the teeth, jaws and facial skull, which can make a significant contribution to preoperative and post-traumatic diagnostics.
  • Computed tomography (CT) [odontogenic myxoma]
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [odontogenic myxoma]

Radiological features

  • Ameloblastoma
    • Mostly multilocular destruction of the jaw bone.
    • If unilocular: good demarcation, homogeneously radiolucent.
    • Resorptions to tooth roots possible.
    • Peripheral: shallow erosion of the bone
  • Adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (AOT).
    • Sharp demarcation from the surrounding area
    • Possible calcifying
    • Possibly cystic
  • Ameloblastic fibroma
    • Well circumscribed
    • Uni- or multilocular (75%) radiolucency (radiopacity).
    • Often like follicular cyst
  • Fibromyxoma (Odontogenic Myxoma]
    • Unilocular or multilocular (mostly).
    • Moderate or partly no sharp boundary
    • “Soap bubbles”
  • Calcifying odontogenic cyst
    • Circumscribed
    • Unilocular
    • Radiolucency with inclusion of radioopaque structures.
    • Partially with retained tooth
  • Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (KEOT).
    • Sharply circumscribed osteolysis (bone resorption).
    • Irregular unicompartmental or multicompartmental radiolucencies
    • Interspersed radiolucencies of varying size – radiopaque foci due to mineralized amyloid.
    • In association with unerupted teeth: Radioopacities near the crown of the tooth
  • Odontomes
    • complex odontoma
      • More or less amorphous, solitary radioopacity
      • Often in the vicinity of a impacted tooth (incidental finding)
    • compound odontoma
      • Multiple smallest rudimentary tooth structure
  • Benign cementoblastoma
    • pathognomonic picture:
      • Initially rather radiolucent, later radiopaque.
      • Mostly round
      • Fused to the root of a tooth: Root is mostly undetectable within the opacity (lack of penetrability and permeability)
      • Narrow radiolucent fringe
      • Up to 5 cm in diameter