A 16 year old girl came in with a recurrent swelling of the right maxilla. She had surgery several years ago. She arrived with a CT which is unusual. We took a picture of the CT and emailed it to my friend and radiologist John Melvin in the USA. His report: "expansile lesion of the maxilla which may be originating in the area of a tooth root. The bone appears expanded and remodeled (rather than destroyed) suggesting a relatively slowly growing mass. The first thing that comes to my mind is a dentigerous cyst or periapical cyst with ameloblastoma being my next choice. Dr. Melvin was correct. We explored her maxilla and found an ectopic tooth with a
dentigerous cyst. There was a molar tooth in the lateral aspect of the maxillary wall. We removed the tooth and she recovered without problems.
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| CT of maxilla (note image is reversed |
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| Molar tooth in superior, lateral aspect of sinus |
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| Ectopic molar |
