Treatment of a large dentigerous cyst in a child.

A dentigerous cyst is a developmental odontogenic cyst that develops when fluid accumulates between the reduced enamel epithelium and the tooth crown of an unerupted tooth. Treatment modalities range from marsupialization to enucleation and are based on the premise that the pathological process can be controlled locally with minimal injury to the adjacent host structures. The purpose of this case report was to describe the diagnosis of a large expansible dentigerous cyst in an 11-year-old boy. The chosen treatment was an initial decompression to reduce the size of the osseous defect, followed by enucleation and tooth extraction.