  The geometry of the dust distribution within the inner regions of Active
Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is still a debated issue and relates directly with the
AGN unified scheme. Traditionally, models discussed in the literature assume
one of two distinct dust distributions in what is believed to be a toroidal
region around the Supermassive Black Holes: a continuous distribution,
customarily referred to as smooth, and a concentration of dust in clumps or
clouds, referred to as clumpy.
  In this paper we perform a thorough comparison between two of the most
popular models in the literature, namely the smooth models by Fritz. et al.
2006 and the clumpy models by Nenkova et al. 2008a, in their common parameters
space. Particular attention is paid to the silicate features at ~9.7 and ~18
micron, the width of the infrared bump, the near-infrared index and the
luminosity at 12.3 micron, all previously reported as possible diagnostic tools
to distinguish between the two dust distributions. We find that, due to the
different dust chemical compositions used in the two models, the behaviour of
the silicate features at 9.7 and 18 micron is quite distinct between the two
models. The width of the infrared bump and the peak of the infrared emission
can take comparable values, their distributions do, however, vary. The
near-infrared index is also quite different, due partly to the primary sources
adopted by the two models. Models with matched parameters do not produce
similar SEDs and virtually no random parameter combinations can result in
seemingly identical SEDs.
