Author/Authors :
Santos Bezerra Pinto, Antonione Department of Morphology - Faculty of Medicine - Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil , Ferreira Costa, André Luiz Department of Orthodontics and Radiology - University of Sao Paulo City (UNICID), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil , Santos Galvão, Neiandro dos Piracicaba Dental School - State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Piracicaba, SP, Brazil , Dias Ferreira, Thásia Luiz Department of Orthodontics and Radiology - University of Sao Paulo City (UNICID), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil , Pereira de Castro Lopes, Sérgio Lúcio Department of Diagnosis and Surgery - Sao Jose dos Campos Dental School - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP, Brazil
Abstract :
Odontogenic cysts have a high prevalence in the dental clinic population, with dentigerous cyst being one of the most frequent ones
and whose aetiology involves accumulation of fluid between the reduced enamel epithelium and the crown of an unerupted tooth.
In the diagnostic process of these lesions, one should consider complementary imaging exams such as conventional radiography
and computed tomography, which are commonly used for providing anatomical information on the tissues compromised by the
lesion, but not on the nature of it. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are noninvasive modalities which, due to their unique
acquisition characteristics, can provide distinct information on the nature of the lesion. This study reports on a case of dentigerous
cyst in the mandible of a 9-year-old patient, documented by means of different imaging modalities. MRI played an important role
in both diagnosis of the lesion and differential diagnosis between neoplastic lesions presenting similar imagenological behaviour
under other techniques of radiography.
