Traumatic bone cyst of idiopathic origin? A report of two cases

Traumatic bone cyst (TBC) is an uncommon non-epithelial lined cavity of the jaws. Traumatic bone cysts have been reported in the literature under a variety of names: solitary bone cyst, haemorrhagic bone cyst, extravasation cyst and simple bone cyst. The multitude of names applied to this lesion implies the lack of understanding of the true aetiology and pathogenesis. However, the term "traumatic bone cyst" is the most widely used name today (1).

A 15 years old male patient presented with a complaint of swelling with mild, intermittent and non-radiating pain in the lower left back teeth region. There was expansion of the buccal cortical plate. Radiograph showed a multilocular lesion straddling between the roots of the teeth. In addition, 21 years old male patient came with a complaint of swelling with mild, continuous pain in the lower left jaw region. OPG showed well defined radiolucency with scalloped borders extending from the periapical region of the 1(st) premolar until the 2(nd) molar. The radiolucency was seen extending between the roots of the involved teeth.

The majority of TBCs are located in the mandibular body between the canine and the third molar. Clinically, the lesion is asymptomatic in the majority of cases and is often accidentally discovered on routine radiological examination, usually as a unilocular radiolucent area with a "scalloping effect". Since material for histologic examination may be scanty or non-available it is very often difficult for a definite histologic diagnosis to be achieved (1).