Validity of conventional surgical treatment methods for mandibular dentigerous cysts. Two case reports.

Dentigerous cysts, which are the most commonly seen odontogenic cysts in the jaws, usually expand asymptomatically and extensively. They are surgically eliminated along with the accompanying impacted tooth, because of their destructive nature to the surrounding vital structures, tissues, bone and teeth. The surgical treatment for removing dentigerous cysts includes decompression, marsupialization, enucleation or curettage of the cyst through an extraoral or intraoral approach. Cysts causing tooth displacement and involving loss of bone are treated by marsupialization or decompression, followed by enucleation. In the cases presented here, both patients had enlarged dentigerous cysts in the left mandibular molar region, with an accompanying impacted tooth. Both cases were treated surgically by the enucleation technique alone, without any need for additional autogenous grafts or alloplastic materials to regain integrity of bone structure. They were rehabilitated with dental implants. The implant-retained fixed prostheses functioned well throughout the 24-month evaluation time; and the functional and psychological needs of the patients were provided successfully.