Review of floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts

We report the common surgical approaches, incidence of sinus tracts, and recurrence rates of floor of mouth dysontogenic (epidermoid, dermoid, and teratoid) cysts in the pediatric population.

Data were derived from PubMed, Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, and manual searches. Three cases from the senior author's (J.P.M.) practice were included. All English-language studies consisting of floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts were included. Case reports of tongue dysontogenic cysts, mandibular dysontogenic cysts, maxillary dysontogenic cysts, and dysontogenic cysts in the neck below the hyoid bone were excluded.

There are 198 case reports, including those presented here, of floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts. They are more common in male patients (55.1%), and the most common location is in the sublingual space (104 or 52.5%). Most floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts can be excised by an intraoral approach. There are 5 reported cases in the literature of recurrent dysontogenic cysts and 11 cases of multiple floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts.

Floor of mouth dysontogenic cysts most commonly present in the sublingual space, and most can be excised by an intraoral approach. Multiple dysontogenic cysts often require a combination of intraoral and extraoral approaches. Recurrence of a dysontogenic cyst may be secondary to a tract not identified at the time of surgery.