Objectives : The purpose of this study was to characterize the total burden of ameloblastoma with respect to the changing occurrence and clinical presentation in the Eastern Nigeria environment.

Patients and methods : A retrospective study of 240 cases of Ameloblastoma seen at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery units of five specialist hospitals in the eastern states of Nigeria was carried out over an 8-year period. The case notes of these patients were retrieved from the records department, analyzed and evaluated. All the cases were categorized by the tumour site, age, sex and time of presentation.

Results : Two hundred and forty (240) cases of ameloblastoma were seen for the 8-year study period. There were 117 males (48.7%) and 123 females (51.3%) giving a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.1 with mean age of 43 years for males and 32 years for females. The highest age of presentations (42.5%) were between the ages of 20 and 39 years. The most common site of occurrence was the symphyseal region 140 (58.3%).

Conclusion : Our study shows that the site of predilection for occurrence of ameloblastoma in Eastern Nigeria is the anterior region of the mandible and the females were more affected. Most of these patients presented late.