Ameloblastic Fibroma

Ameloblastic fibroma (AF) is a rare mixed epithelial and ectodermal mesenchymal tissue tumor, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “a tumor that consists of proliferating odontogenic epithelial cells and extracellular interstitial tissue, similar to dental papillae, and has varying degrees of induced changes and hard tissue formation of teeth” [1–4]. AF accounts for about 2.5% of odontogenic tumors, and tends to occur in the posterior dental region of the mandible [1–5]. It is common in children and young adults with an average age of 15 years old and no obvious gender orientation. Its main manifestations are painless and progressive swelling of the jaw, occasionally ulcer, pain and swelling. The X-ray examination mainly shows unilocular or multilocular projection shadow, which may contain unerupted teeth, with sclerotic edges visible at the border. It does not invade trabeculae, but displacement of adjacent teeth may happen. The main treatment methods for AF are extirpation or curettage [5–9]. For a large range of multiple recurrent AF, segmental resection of the jaw and simultaneous reconstruction of the jaw are considered. It should be noted that AF has the possibility of recurrence and malignant transformation, so long-term follow-up is required after surgery. Study shows that the age of AF patients is greatly associated with malignant degeneration, and patients younger than 22 years of age were less likely to develop AF malignant degeneration than patients older than 22 years of age.