The mandibular infected buccal cyst--a reappraisal

The mandibular infected buccal cyst was first described over ten years ago as a discrete pathological entity found only in children. The features of this lesion have been consistently described as a buccal location adjacent to erupting first molar teeth, a thick, hyperplastic non-keratinized epithelial lining, expansion of buccal cortex and associated infection. The paradental cyst had been described some years previously. This lesion was noted to have a similar non-specific hyperplastic non-keratinized epithelial lining but was described as being associated predominantly with third molar teeth in young adults. Recently investigators have called for the mandibular infected buccal cyst to be reclassified as a variant of the paradental cyst. In this paper, ten previously unreported cases of mandibular infected buccal cysts are presented and the evidence for their reclassification as paradental cysts is advanced.