skip to main content

Stafne Bone Cavity — MFDS Part 1 MCQ

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

HardRadiologyStafne Bone CavityMFDS Part 1

A 58-year-old man has an incidental, well-corticated radiolucency in the posterior body of the mandible. It lies entirely below the inferior alveolar canal, has a mildly scalloped superior outline and is unrelated to the roots or crown of any tooth. There is no swelling, and the adjacent teeth are vital. Limited-field CBCT demonstrates a focal concavity of the lingual cortex with an intact buccal cortex and no medullary expansion. 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 — Stafne bone cavity (static bone cyst)

The correct answer is C, a Stafne bone cavity. Its decisive features are the incidental, corticated radiolucency in the posterior mandible below the inferior alveolar canal and the focal lingual cortical concavity demonstrated by CBCT. It is an anatomical depression, often associated with adjacent salivary tissue, rather than a true cyst. Mild contour scalloping does not override these characteristic findings. A simple bone cyst more typically occurs in younger patients and scallops between tooth roots within the medullary bone. A dentigerous cyst must be pericoronal to an unerupted tooth. An ameloblastoma commonly causes expansile, often multilocular destruction, tooth displacement or root resorption. An odontogenic keratocyst may extend substantially along the mandible with limited expansion, but it is an intraosseous lesion rather than a discrete lingual cortical concavity below the canal.

Reference: Boffano P, Ruslin M. Stafne Bone Cavity: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry. 2025;17(6):e725-e731. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40621143/