While the goal of dentistry centers around preventing oral complications, they can still occur. Besides gum disease and tooth decay, another possible dental issue that can develop is a cyst in your mouth. If your dentist discovers a cyst around a tooth that has not yet emerged from your gums, you may have a dentigerous cyst.
Dentigerous cysts are a type of mouth cyst that slowly builds up fluid around the enamel of an impacted tooth. While dentigerous cysts are estimated to occur in 1.44% of unerupted teeth, they also account for about 17% of all jaw cysts.[1]
Understanding the common symptoms, causes, and risks associated with dentigerous cysts will help you identify them and get the dental help you need to remove them and restore your mouth to good health.
Dentigerous Cyst Causes & Risk Factors
A dentigerous cyst occurs during the enamel formation process and is always related to an impacted tooth. Under the gums, the enamel layer of the tooth is not fully developed. A couple of cellular layers called the inner and outer enamel epithelium meet together with enamel stem cells to create the hard, thin enamel layer you see when you look at your teeth.
As the enamel is in this process, the enamel epithelium reduces, leaving a space around the un-erupted crown of the tooth. This space allows fluid to accumulate, creating the dentigerous cyst. The formation of the cyst prevents the tooth from emerging.[1]
While this type of oral cyst has been found in a wide age range of patients, most people are in their twenties and thirties when they are diagnosed. While men are slightly more likely to have a dentigerous cyst than women, this type of cyst inside the gums is often discovered when looking for the cause for an un-erupted tooth.[2]
Where is the Most Common Location for dentigerous Cysts?
One of the most common places to find a dentigerous cyst is in the mandibular third molar region, or most commonly known as your wisdom teeth. But this isn't the only place that these cysts can occur. They are also found near the canine or cuspid teeth.[3]
What is the Difference Between a Dentigerous Cyst and a Dental Cyst?
Dental cysts, also known as odontogenic cysts, include any type of mouth cyst. They occur around teeth, gums, or lips and can be filled with fluid, air, or soft tissue.
Dentigerous cysts are a specific kind of dental cyst that is filled with fluid and develops around the crown of an un-erupted tooth, most often in the back lower molars.
Gum Cyst Symptoms and Clinical Presentation
Dentigerous cysts tend not to be painful unless a secondary infection is present. But there are several symptoms to keep an eye out for, including:
Swelling around the tooth.
Displaced teeth.
Gaps between teeth.
Bump on the gums where the tooth should emerge.
How Serious is a Dentigerous Cyst?
While the absence of pain may make you think that a dentigerous cyst isn't serious, it can lead to complications. If you notice swelling, or your dentist sees evidence of a dentigerous cyst on an X-ray, it is important to have it promptly removed to avoid serious problems, such as:
Tooth loss.
Jaw fracture or increased susceptibility to fractures.
Development of jaw tumors.
Further infection.
Dentigerous Cyst Diagnosis and Evaluation
The smaller your cyst is, the harder it is to detect or diagnose. But even a tiny dentigerous cyst can be seen on a regular dental X-ray. Your dentist may need better imaging to determine which kind of dental cyst it is, depending on its size. If this is the case, a CT scan or an MRI may be recommended to rule out the possibility that the cyst is an inflammatory radical cyst or bone cyst.
When the cyst is determined to be dentigerous, the right treatment plan will be created to remove it.
Gum Cyst Treatment
Because of the possibility of further complications, it is essential that you seek treatment to remove the dentigerous cyst. Depending on the size of the cyst, there are a couple of treatment options.
How Do You Get Rid of a Dentigerous Cyst?
If the cyst is small, your dentist or oral surgeon can remove the cyst tissue along with the infected, impacted tooth. As long as all of the cyst tissue is removed, surgery is very effective in eliminating dentigerous cysts. However, if the oral surgeon cannot remove all of the affected tissue, the cyst in your mouth could come back.
For large dentigerous cysts, a treatment called marsupialization may be recommended. This surgical intervention works by making a small incision in the cyst to drain the fluid, reducing its size gradually. The edges of the cyst lining or opening are sutured together to the gums so that the cyst actually stays open, allowing it to drain on its own.[4]
Patients, after removal surgery or marsupialization, must return for regular checks in the days and weeks after treatment to ensure proper healing and to be sure the dentigerous cyst isn't reforming. Post-operative care includes regular cleaning of the affected area of the mouth with a saline solution. Depending on the size and location of the cyst, soft foods may be recommended to reduce the possibility of jaw fracture.
Eliminate Wisdom Tooth Cysts
Treating dentigerous cysts reduces the chances of future and more severe complications. But before symptoms become evident, you may not know you have an oral cyst forming around your impacted tooth. This makes regular appointments with your dentist even more important. Ask your dentist how often they suggest having dental X-rays taken, and be sure to stay within their recommendations to catch the presence of dentigerous cysts as soon as possible.
Your relationship with your dentist makes a big difference in the health of your mouth. If you are in need of dental X-rays, make an appointment with a Smile Generation Trusted Office and give them a call today!
Sources
[1] An Inflammatory Dentigerous Cyst Shows Rim Uptake on Bone Scan: A Case Report, PubMed, Mar. 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035164/
[2] The Prevalence, Distribution, and Radiological Evaluation of Dentigerous Cysts in a Lebanese Sample, PubMed, Sept. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8479438/
[3] Dentigerous Cyst in a Young Child, PubMed, Dec. 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4745245/
[4] Marsupialization of Dentigerous Cysts Followed by Enucleation and Extraction of Deeply Impacted Third Molars: A Report of Two Cases, PubMed, Apr. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9067614/
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