Pericoronal radiolucency associated with incomplete crown

The author experienced 8 cases of pericoronal radiolucency involving an incomplete tooth crown that had not developed to form the cemento-enamel junction, and the underdeveloped crown sometimes appeared to be floating within the radiolucency radiographically. The first impression was that these cystic lesions had odontogenic keratocysts, but half of them turned out to be dentigerous cysts histopathologically. There has been no report concerning odontogenic cysts involving an incompletely developed crown. The purpose of this paper is to report that dentigerous cysts may develop before the completion of the cemento-enamel junction of a developing crown.