This study describes the epidemiology and clinical presentation of odontogenic tumours (OT) seen at a regional Brazilian oral and maxillofacial pathology service; to assess the quantitative impact of the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) classification of these lesions; and to compare this series with others available in international databases. The study was carried out by retrospectively analysing 240 cases diagnosed from 1978 to 2009, followed by a comprehensive review of the literature. The patients' mean age was 29years, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.1. Benign lesions comprised 97.9% of the cases (mostly keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KCOT), odontomas and ameloblastomas) with the remaining tumours depicting a prevalence of less than 5%. Adenomatoid OT were less frequent than in most previous studies, while malignant OT were strikingly numerous. Most OT in children and in the anterior maxilla were odontomas, while maxillary ameloblastomas were rare. Lack of swelling was more frequent in KCOT than in ameloblastomas. The present study confirms the relative impact of KCOT in the epidemiology of OT and identifies more similarities between the present series with reports from the United States and Europe than with African and Asian populations.