conservative management of unicystic ameloblastoma of mandible evolving from dentigerous cyst in a paediatric patient: a case report

Massive cystic lesions involving a mandible always present a diagnostic and treatment chal-lenge. unicystic ameloblastoma (ua) is a variant of ameloblastoma encompassing about 6% of ameloblastomas. they represent cystic lesions that reveal clinical and radiographic fea-tures of a cyst, but the histopathological features demonstrate a typical ameloblastomatous epithelium lining the cyst. it is a variant of ameloblastoma, usually having clinical and radi-ographic similarities with dentigerous cysts, hence posing preoperative diagnostic difficul-ties. adult treatment protocol cannot be applied to the pediatric population since resection may cause an alteration in craniofacial development leading to functional and esthetical damage, which can directly affect their quality of life. a more conservative approach of enucleating the lesion seems to be a promising treatment modality of ua in the pediatric age group. we present a case of mural variant of ua arising from dentigerous cyst in an 8-year-old male patient.