ABSTRACT
Odontogenic cysts are able to grow in bone because they have the ability to induce local bone resorption. Up to 1970, theories of odontogenic cyst expansion in bone were largely mechanistic. It was generally accepted that cyst expansion reflected the physical pressure of the cyst wall on the surrounding bone. Bone resorption is the cell-mediated removal of both the organic and mineral phases of bone. The major bone-resorbing cell is the osteoclast, although there is evidence that some tumor cells can resorb bone directly, especially in the later stages of tumor growth in bone. Tissue culture has also helped elucidate the cellular interactions at the heart of pathological bone resorption. Mediators of bone resorption, commonly called “bone-resorbing factors” or sometimes “osteolysins” are agents which, when placed in contact with living bone, induce resorption. The control of bone resorption and formation is extremely complex, and it is becoming more apparent that a myriad of local factors play important role in it.
