Histopathological Spectrum of a Calcifying Odontogenic Cyst With Uncommon Findings

Calcifying odontogenic cyst (COC) is an uncommon lesion accounting for less than 1% of all odontogenic cysts. This pathology commonly affects the anterior jaw and is prevalent in the second to third decades of life, with no sex predilection. The lesion presents with a variable clinical and radiographic presentation, which can simulate other common jaw pathologies. Therefore, histopathological confirmation stands to be diagnostic in COC. The fifth edition classification for jaw tumors of the head and neck by the World Health Organization has summarized the essential diagnostic criteria of COC as a jaw cyst occurring in the second to third decades of life with a strong predilection for the anterior mandible and histopathologically characterized by cystic architecture with numerous ghost cells. Here, we present three histopathologically confirmed cases of COC of the mandible, clinically suspected for ameloblastoma, lateral periodontal cyst, and radicular cyst, with emphasis on the characteristics, along with the possible diversity that the lesion can show in its histopathological sections.