ABSTRACT
Cysts and benign tumors of the jaws are intriguing pathologic entities that can be aggressive, destructive and prone to persistence if not properly removed. The assignment of a benign versus a malignant designation to a neoplastic pathologic process of the jaws is established based on well-accepted and time-honored histologic criteria, such as the presence or absence of necrosis, invasion and mitotic figures, as well as the observed natural history of the pathologic entity, such as the ability of the lesion to recur and metastasize to distant sites. Some malignant tumors might be distinctly non-aggressive in terms of their relative indolent biologic behavior and relative slow growth compared to the more typical aggressive malignant tumors. Jaw lesions in general, and odontogenic cysts and tumors specifically, collectively represent an abstruse and often elusive group of diagnoses to surgeons not intimately familiar with their clinical and radiographic presentations.
