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Radiology of Cysts of the Maxilla

Guy's Hospital, London, S.E.1

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

There are a number of cysts peculiar to the jaws and especially the maxilla and they are conveniently classified into those of dental and non-dental origin (Table I). All these cysts have epithelial linings. The non-epithelial cyst (Jaffe, 1958) of the mandible (haemorrhagic or traumatic cyst of some authors) is very rare in the maxilla or does not occur there.

The commoner cysts arise from dental tissues and much the most common is the apical periodontal, usually called a "dental" cyst. This arises from a dead tooth killed by caries, trauma or occasionally by an irritant filling such as a silicate cement without a protective lining. The epithelial lining of all the odontogenic cysts comes from epithelial remnants in the periodontal membrane which originated from the dental lamina and these cells are stimulated to proliferate by low grade infection. The rare lateral periodontal cyst is described and is presumed to be associated with a lateral instead of with the main apical foramen through which irritant material from the necrotic pulp escapes. It is only recognisable as a specific entity when quite small and so located between tooth roots. A cyst in this situation may also be developmental in origin.

In either jaw, a cyst appears as a sharply edged rounded translucency replacing bone and usually expanding it.