The botryoid odontogenic cyst: case report and twenty-five year literature review.

The botryoid odontogenic cyst (BOC) is a rare entity which has been sporadically reported in the literature since Weathers and Waldron coined the term in 1973. Approximately twenty-five such lesions have been described in the last twenty-one years. However, the histologic origin and nomenclature of this cyst have been quite controversial. Cysts with similar characteristics may have been seen even earlier than 1973, but were classified as other types of cysts of odontogenic or mesenchymal origin. The purpose of this article is to chronicle a case and its management, and to delineate several criteria to insure the proper diagnosis of the botryoid odontogenic cyst clinically, radiographically and histologically.