An unusual clinicoradiographic presentation of a lateral periodontal cyst--report of two cases.

The lateral periodontal cyst and the botryoid odontogenic cyst are two rare nosological entities, who, despite their radiological and clinical presentation can only be diagnosed by their rather typical histopathological characteristics. The purpose of this article is to report two cases of radiolucent cystic lesions of the mandible, located in the premolar area, with a clinical and radiographic diagnosis of residual cyst, which showed histological features of a lateral periodontal cyst. Histopathologically, the lateral periodontal cyst lining is characterized by a thin cuboidal to stratified squamous non-keratinizing epithelium, ranging from one to five cell layers and presence of one or more epithelial thickenings or plaques. Furthermore, glycogen-rich clear cells encountered either in the epithelial plaques or in the superficial layer of the lining epithelium.