Ameloblastic fibroma at the University of Nairobi Dental Hospital.

OBJECTIVE To document the occurrence of cases of ameloblastic fibroma. DESIGN A retrospective study. SETTING The Division of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine histopathology laboratory at the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi, January 1991 to December 2000. RESULTS Seven complete records of histopathologically confirmed cases of ameloblastic fibroma were identified. There were four male and three female cases with an age range of 10 to 22 years (mean=14 years). Remarkably, six of the cases had lesions in the molar regions of the mandible with a single case with a maxillary molar area lesion. One of the cases had the neoplasm associated with an unerupted tooth. From the clinical notes all the patients were managed by meticulous enucleation and curettage of the lesions. After follow up periods ranging from several months to eight years no recurrences had been recorded. CONCLUSION Evidently ameloblastic fibroma is an uncommon neoplasm as noted in the earlier literature. Although the lesions can be quite extensive at the time of diagnosis, the recurrence rate appears to be relatively low if the neoplasms are meticulously extirpated.