Odontomas and
ameloblastic fibro-odontomas (AFOs) are the result of a developmental anomaly of odontogenic tissues. A literature review of
proteins immunoexpressed in
odontomas and AFOs was conducted in order to determine which
proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of these lesions. AFO was changed to early
odontoma in the 2017 WHO classification and will also be discussed in this article. A literature search was performed in the following electronic databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, Lilacs, Cochrane Collaboration Library, and Science Direct. The research question was developed according to the population, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) framework: Which
proteins are related to the differentiation of
odontomas and what is their interrelationship with AFOs? Thirty articles met all inclusion criteria and were selected for this systematic review, totaling 355 cases of
odontomas and 43 cases of AFO. Similar immunoexpression was observed in
odontomas and AFOs. Immunoexpression of
proteins involved in cell differentiation was higher in
compound odontomas than in complex
odontomas.
Proteins involved in histodifferentiation and enamel formation were more frequent in
odontomas. The immunoexpression of
enamel matrix proteins differs between
odontomas and tooth germs, with their persistence being related to the development of
odontomas.
Compound odontomas exhibit the highest immunoexpression of
proteins involved in cellular histodifferentiation and the Wnt/
beta-catenin pathway is involved in
tumor formation.