Incidental finding of dentigerous cyst-a case report

Abstract

In the jaws, the most common type of developmental odontogenic cyst is dentigerous cyst, mostly affecting the impacted mandibular third molars and permanent maxillary canines. They are often noted as an incidental finding on radiographs as unilocular radiolucency with well-defined sclerotic border which encircles the crown of an unerupted tooth as most of these dentigerous cysts are clinically asymptomatic. Long standing cases of dentigerous cysts can progress to either ameloblastoma or squamous cell carcinoma or mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Henceforth, an early clinical and radiographic detection of the cyst plays a vital role so that apt treatment modalities can be carried out which will prevent or decrease the morbidity. With this above background, we hereby report an enticing case of dentigerous cyst which was incidentally observed in conventional radiographs and to evaluate further extension and nature of lesion, a conebeam computed tomography (CBCT) of jaw was taken. Key words: Dentigerous cyst, Impacted mandibular third molars, Incidental finding, Cone beam computed tomography