An uncommon lesion of oral soft tissues satisfying the histologic criteria for ameloblastoma, but with a limited potential for bone invasion, occurred In a 47-year-old woman. As a microscopical diagnosis of ameloblastoma connotes a tumor of an aggressive and infiltrative nature, a consideration of the disparity in histogenetic origin and biologic behavior between the intraosseous and extraosseous ameloblastic tumors prompts a tentative reclassification of the latter as peripheral ameloblastold hamartoma.