Experimental dentigerous cysts and enamel hypoplasia: their possible significance in explaining the pathogenesis of human dentigerous cysts

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Abstract
Cysts lined by epithelium were often found in association with tooth-germ isografts in hamster cheek pouch. They developed from odontogenic epithelium and were in close relation to the crowns of involved teeth. Cysts associated with tooth-germ isografts from 5 day old animals (17 of 36) commenced their formation shortly after transplantation as a result of enamel organ degeneration. Teeth associated with these cysts often showed enamel hypoplasia. Accordingly, 86 teeth involved in human dentigerous cysts were examined and 43 possessed areas of enamel hypoplasia on their occlusal surfaces or incisal edges. The pathological process initiating cystic degeneration in the enamel organ was also accompanied by degeneration of ameloblasts. When tooth-germs from 2 day old hamsters were transplanted, cystic spaces developed only after completion of enamel formation, 6 wk following transplantation (in 6 out of 11 transplants), as a result of separation between the cells of the reduced enamel epithelium. Enamel hypoplasia was not a conspicuous feature. There may be at least 2 types of dentigerous cyst, perhaps with different causes, arising at different stages of tooth development.