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Case Report Plastic and Aesthetic Research

A massive dentigerous cyst of the mandible

in a young patient: a case report

Gururaj Arakeri , Kirthi Kumar Rai , Hosadurga Rudraswami Shivakumar ,
2
1
2
Shahanavaj I. Khaji 3
1 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Navodaya Dental College and Hospital, Raichur 584101, Karnataka, India.
2 Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere 577004, Karnataka, India.
3 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, Kolhapur 416137, Maharashtra,
India.
Address for correspondence: Dr. Gururaj Arakeri, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Navodaya Dental College and Hospital,
Raichur 584101, Karnataka, India. E‑mail: gururaj.arakeri@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Cysts of the jaw present as swellings of jaws and midface. Of the different varieties, the dentigerous cyst
is the most common type of noninflammatory odontogenic cyst and the frequent cause of a lytic lesion
associated with an impacted tooth. The cyst develops from epithelial remnants of the tooth forming
organ. The obstruction of venous flow due to compression of tooth follicle by developing tooth causes
fluid accumulation between the follicular epithelium and the crown of the developing or unerupted
tooth resulting in a cyst. Most small dentigerous cysts manifest in early age, usually as an incidental
discovery in radiographic examinations. However, they can grow extremely large, asymptomatically,
and remain undetected until they enlarge enough, causing bony expansion and asymptomatic facial
swelling. We present a challenging case of massive dentigerous cyst in a 13‑year‑old female child
involving half of the mandible, which was successfully treated with conservative therapy. This case
report illustrates the effectiveness of simplified surgical treatment for a large dentigerous cyst in the
mixed dentition period.

Key words:
Conservative therapy, cyst, massive dentigerous cyst

INTRODUCTION cysts, accounting for approximately 24% of all true cysts in
the jaws. [4‑6]
In general, cysts of the jaw commonly present as Clinically, it is often asymptomatic; it is discovered
swellings of the jaws and the midface. A sine qua non as an incidental radiographic finding or when acute
for the development of a dentigerous cyst is usually inflammation, infection or swelling develops [7‑9] where
an unerupted tooth. The frequency of dentigerous cyst it appears as a well circumscribed, unilocular, usually
formation has been calculated as 1.44 in every 100 symmetric radiolucency around the crown of an
unerupted teeth. [1‑3]
impacted tooth. As normal follicular space is 3‑4 mm,
Dentigerous cysts occur over a wide age range with a peak a dentigerous cyst can be suspected when the space
frequency in the second to fourth decades and are the
second most common odontogenic cysts after radicular This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
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How to cite this article: Arakeri G, Rai KK, Shivakumar HR, Khaji SI.
A massive dentigerous cyst of the mandible in a young patient: a case
DOI: report. Plast Aesthet Res 2015;2:294-8.
10.4103/2347-9264.165439
Received: 22-11-2014; Accepted: 14-07-2015

294 © 2015 Plastic and Aesthetic Research | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow