Dentigerous Cyst Histology — MFDS Part 1 MCQ

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

ModerateOral PathologyDentigerous Cyst HistologyMFDS Part 1

A 12-year-old has a well-circumscribed, unilocular intraosseous radiolucency enveloping the crown of an unerupted mandibular premolar and attached at the cementoenamel junction. Histological examination shows a fibrous cyst wall lined by 2–3 layers of non-keratinising flattened-to-cuboidal epithelium without rete ridges. What is the most likely diagnosis?

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

Reveal the answer and explanation

Correct answer: C — Dentigerous cyst

The diagnosis is a dentigerous cyst. The decisive features are an intraosseous, unilocular radiolucency enveloping the crown of an unerupted tooth and attaching at the cementoenamel junction, together with a thin, non-keratinising epithelial lining resembling reduced enamel epithelium. An odontogenic keratocyst characteristically has a keratinised, corrugated lining with palisaded basal cells. A radicular cyst is inflammatory and develops at the apex of a non-vital tooth. An eruption cyst is the soft-tissue counterpart of a dentigerous cyst and overlies an erupting tooth rather than forming an intraosseous pericoronal lesion. A calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour is a solid neoplasm that usually shows polyhedral epithelial cells, amyloid-like material and calcifications rather than a simple thin cyst lining.

Reference: Austin RP, Nelson BL. Sine Qua Non: Dentigerous Cyst. Head and Neck Pathology. 2021;15(4):1261–1264. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33881736/