Diagnosis and Treatment of Odontogenic Keratocyst

Odontogenic keratocyst(OKC)is a developmental odontogenic cyst most commonly occuring in the angle of the mandible and the ascending ramus.In contrast to other odontogenic cysts,OKCs have higher proliferative activity in epithelium,more frequent mutations of PTCH gene,higher mitotic count,overexpression of tumor makers such as CK16,CK17,and CK19.Thus,it is suggested the OKC might be a kind of benign cystic neoplasm rather than simple odontogenic cyst.The diagnosis of OKC is mainly depending on radiologic and pathologic characteristics.There are two means for the treatment of OKC:conservative or aggressive management.Aggressive methods including surgical enucleation and peripheral ostectomy are recommended in the treatment of OKC However,for the young patients,conservative approaches such as marsupialization,decompression or douche treatments have some advantages because they can avoid some kinds of adverse effects produced by aggressive methods.