Infection from the wisdom teeth usually causes severe swelling at the region of the angle and body of the mandible. Occasionally, it tracts outward to form a cervicofacial sinus. This paper demonstrates the use of gutta-percha point to locate the origin of a cervicofacial sinus due to an asymptomatic impacted wisdom tooth. The advantage of using gutta-percha point is discussed.
Hypodontia is the congenital absence of one or more teeth because of agenesis. The most commonly missing teeth are the third molars, the maxillary lateral incisors and the second premolars. Cases are presented of three patients with a missing mandibular incisor.
The odontogenic keratocyst has been well documented and extensively studied. It is of particular interest because of its high recurrence rate and aggressive nature. The material for this study consisted of 70 cases of odontogenic keratocysts in predominantly ethnic Chinese patients who were treated from 1981 to 1996. The cases were retrospectively studied to compare characteristics of the lesion in this population with those in previous reports. Most of the patients in this series were 21 to 30 years of age. Association with an impacted mandibular third molar was found in more than 50% of the cases. The recurrence rate was 20% for 35 patients with a follow-up period of at least 5 years. The follow-up period for the whole series ranged from 1 to 16 years. Treatment was surgical enucleation with peripheral ostectomy. There were no significant differences in characteristics with respect to presentation and prognosis between this series and those described in previous publications.