The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of tumours of the salivary gland seen at the Dental Centre, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria over a period of 15 years. All cases that were histologically diagnosed as salivary gland tumours from January 1990 to December 2004 were retrieved from the histopathology records of the Department of Oral Pathology and Biology and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. All the cases were subjected to analysis of age, sex, site of occurrence and histologic diagnosis based on 1991 World Health Organisation (WHO) classification. Salivary gland constituted 6.3% of all oro-facial tumours and tumour-like lesions. The frequency of malignant tumours was 60.8% (n = 73) and benign tumours 39.2% (n = 47). Minor salivary glands (63.3%) were mostly affected. The male-to-female ratio was 1.1:1, and most (72.5%) of the tumours occurred in the age group of 21-60 years. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most commonly occurring tumour (29.2%) followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (19.2%). The predominant benign and malignant tumours were pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma respectively. Palate (45.8%) was the most frequently affected site. The mean.age (+/-SD) of patients with benign tumours was significantly lower than those with malignant tumours (P = 0.003). The incidence of salivary gland tumours in this study is higher than in most previous reports. Malignant tumours which occurred in older age group were the most commonly seen.