Purpose: Odontogenic myxoma is a rare tumor with few large series with variable surgical management reported in the literature. This is case series of 12 odontogenic myxomas treated at the University of Maryland with surgical resection with 1 cm bony margins as the primary management.

Materials and methods: This retrospective chart review of 3164 cases from the OMS Oncology service at the University of Maryland November 1991–December 2010 identified 12 cases of myxomas, 0.38% of the cases, 9 of which were mandibular and 1 in the maxilla, 2 patients with inadequate follow-up were excluded from the study.

Results: Male to female ratio was 1:1.5, with a wide age range 15–51 (average age 32.9 years). The racial demographics were 5 Caucasians, 3 African Americans and 2 Asians. The location of this tumor was 9:1, posterior mandible to posterior maxilla. The average size was large, 5.7 cm × 3.4 cm × 2.3 cm with a “honeycomb” or “soap bubble” appearance on CT scan. The average follow-up is 24.6 months (range of 7–96 months). No recurrences were observed.

Conclusion: Odontogenic myxomas are locally aggressive tumors for which surgical resection with adequate bony and soft tissue margins is curative. Long term follow-up is a problem in many studies including this one.

Conflict of interest: None declared.