Cementoblastoma — MFDS Part 1 MCQ

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ModerateOral PathologyCementoblastomaMFDS Part 1

A 19-year-old patient presents with a slowly enlarging, mildly painful swelling of the posterior mandible. The associated first permanent molar is vital. Radiography shows a well-circumscribed mixed-density to radiopaque mass confluent with the tooth roots and surrounded by a thin radiolucent rim. What is the most likely diagnosis?

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Correct answer: E — Cementoblastoma

The diagnosis is **cementoblastoma**, a benign odontogenic tumour producing cementum-like tissue that is characteristically fused to the root of a tooth. It commonly affects young patients in the posterior mandible and appears as a well-defined mineralised or mixed-density mass with a surrounding radiolucent rim; pain and expansion may occur. Condensing osteitis is reactive sclerosis associated with pulpal inflammation and is not fused to the root as a circumscribed mass. Hypercementosis preserves the root outline and periodontal ligament space and is usually asymptomatic. Periapical cemento-osseous dysplasia usually affects multiple mandibular anterior teeth. Osteoblastoma may be histologically similar but lacks attachment to a tooth root.

Reference: Ide F, et al. The True History of Cementoblastoma. Head and Neck Pathology. 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36723849/