Methods: All entries for specimens from children between the ages of 0-16, during the 30 year period 1973 - 2002 inclusive, were retrieved using a Foxpro windows database. Twelve diagnostic categories were used and each diagnosis included: number of specimens; male:female ratio; age range; mean age and standard deviation.
Results: During the 30 year period, 4,406 specimens (approximately 8% of the total) came from children between the age of 0 - 16 years, with a male to female ratio of 1.01:1 The diagnostic category with the largest number of specimens was tooth pathology (22.1%) followed by salivary gland disease (19.1%) and mucosal pathology (12.1%). In all, there were 114 benign tumours of non-odontogenic origin, 43 odontogenic tumours and 31 malignant tumours. The most frequently diagnosed lesions were mucous extravasation cysts, that accounted for over 16% of cases. Periapical pathology in the form of a radicular cyst, residual cyst or chronic periapical granuloma formed almost 13% of all cases.
Conclusion: This survey has shown that while nearly 10% of specimens submitted to our laboratory are from children under 16, the majority of lesions are of a benign nature requiring minimal intervention; less than 1% of cases comprise malignant lesions. Odontogenic tumours are relatively rare in this age group, however certain lesions such as adenomatoid odontogenic tumour and ameloblastic fibroma occur predominantly in children and so remain an important diagnostic consideration.