ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of epithelial odontogenic tumors diagnosed histologically in a period of 41 years in a Brazilian population according to age, gender, site affected and compare these data with previously reported studies from other countries. Data of epithelial odontogenic tumors diagnosed were collected from the files of the Oral Pathology Laboratory of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil, and entered in a standardized form for later comparisons. Clini-cal features obtained from the patient records and microscope slides were reviewed according to the 1992 World Health Organization classification. A total 156 epithelial odontogenic tumor were reported. Of these, all of them were benign. Ameloblastoma was the most frequent type (85.9 %), followed by adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (10.9 %) and calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (3.2 %). The mean age of the patients was 38 years, with a wide range (11-80 years). The posterior region of mandible was the anatomic site most frequently affected by this disease, and no significant differences were found between sexes in the diagnosis of odontogenic tumors. A marked geographic variation in the relative incidences of various epithelial odontogenic tumors was found. It was particularly notable in ameloblastomas and adenomatoid odontogenic tumors, with the incidences observed in the present study being similar, sometimes different to earlier studies in others parts of the world.KEY WORDS: odontogenic tumor, ameloblastoma, adenomatoid odontogenic tumor, calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor.