Seven hundred fifty-nine cases of odontogenic tumors retrieved from the files of College of Stomatology, West China University of Medical Sciences were classified according to the World Health Organization's Histological Classification of Odontogenic Tumors and compared with similar reports from other countries. Among these cases, 93.9% of the tumors were benign and 6.1% were malignant. Ameloblastomas predominated (58.6%) with a predilection for the mandible, while odontomas, generally regarded as the most frequent odontogenic tumor in North America, only accounted for 6.7%, the fourth most common tumor in this series. The mandible and the maxilla were divided into eight anatomic regions, and the distribution of each odontogenic tumor type amongst these regions was recorded. The relative incidence of each tumor type, patient age and gender were also compared with data from other selected large series. Geographic differences were noted in the relative incidence of ameloblastoma, odontoma and malignant odontogenic tumors among the Chinese/African, North American and Turkish/German groups. Ameloblastoma and malignant odontogenic tumors are not considered rare in a Chinese population.