The likelihood of finding occult histopathology in routine third molar extractions.

Patients had their third molars extracted for reasons unrelated to concerns about the presence of pathologic entities. The preoperative differential diagnosis for a pericoronal radiolucent lesion was hyperplastic follicle, dentigerous cyst, odontogenic keratocyst, and remotely, ameloblastoma. The study involved 42 patients with 101 bony or soft tissue impacted teeth. The most significant microscopic histopathology observed was dentigerous cysts. Of the 101 teeth evaluated, 46 (45.5 percent) were dentigerous cysts. The male to female ratio was 1:1, and the average age was 23.3 years. Frequently, a pericoronal radiolucent width of 2.0 mm on the pantomograph is associated with the presence of microscopic histopathology. The range of widths of the radiolucency associated with the dentigerous cysts in the present was 0.1 to 3.0 mm with 33 (72 percent) displaying a radiolucent widths of 1.0 mm. In the present study, dentigerous cysts were frequently observed, and aggressive histopathologic entities were not identified.