skip to main content

Mature Periapical Cemental Dysplasia — ORE Part 1 MCQ

Instant feedback + full explanation. One question, done properly.

ModerateRadiology & ImagingMature Periapical Cemental DysplasiaORE Part 1

A 30-year-old patient has a slowly enlarging, hard buccal swelling adjacent to the lower right first molar. The tooth responds normally to pulp sensibility testing. A panoramic radiograph shows a rounded, well-defined radiopaque mass fused to the distal root apex, obscuring the root outline and surrounded by a narrow radiolucent rim. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

Reveal the answer and explanation

Correct answer: A — Benign cementoblastoma

A. Benign cementoblastoma is characterised by a rounded radiopaque mass that is fused to the tooth root, commonly with loss of the normal root outline and a thin peripheral radiolucent rim. It may produce cortical expansion, and the associated tooth is usually vital. Periapical cemento-osseous dysplasia also occurs with vital teeth and can become radiopaque, but it is usually non-expansile, commonly involves mandibular anterior teeth, and is not characteristically fused to or obscuring a root. Idiopathic osteosclerosis is a radiopacity within bone rather than a root-fused mass. A periapical abscess would usually be associated with pulpal infection and a non-vital tooth. An osteoma is not typically centred on and fused to a molar root apex.

Reference: Waldron CA. The True History of Cementoblastoma. Head and Neck Pathology, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36723849/