•The diagnosis of odontogenic tumors is complicated due to the heterogeneity of the lesions, representing a continuous spectrum of disease or several different all together, borderline forms, and hybrid forms.•The lesion described here looked like a squamous cell carcinoma of the alveolar ridge combining histological features of an odontogenic neoplasia, including entities like the squamous odontogenic tumor and clear cell odontogenic carcinoma.•The surgical assessment of odontogenic tumors is controversial, representing a challenge for surgeons. A persistent dilemma is determinating the malignancy of the lesions. The lesion was framed among odontogenic tumors, suggestive for a co-existence of two different odontogenic entities of which the malignant form degenerated into squamous cell carcinoma, or also of a co-existence, from the beginning, of three different entities independently.