Jaw Cysts and Cyst-Like Conditions

Stafne’s bone cyst revisited and renamed: the benign mandibular concavity

“…That being said, the definition of SBC as mentioned in text books and by Edward Stafne in 1942 is no longer accurate and we think these lesions should be called "benign mandibular concavities", as their content may be salivary gland tissue, but also lymphoid, muscular, adipose or vascular tissue, as mentioned in several publications. 5,10,[17][18][19][20][21][22]31,33,36,46,47,54,57,63,69,70,80 We are aware that several classifications have been proposed to identify the depth of the concavity and its actual content, but as this was not within the scope of the current review, we refer the interested reader to the relevant literature on this. 9,10,[17][18][19][20][21][22]31,70 We were purely interested in the anatomical mapping of the lesions in order to illustrate to clinicians that a benign concavity in the mandible should always be considered with the incidental identification of an asymptomatic, round or oval-shaped, well-defined, uniform radiolucent lesion, anywhere in the mandible.…”

“…(1) a bone cavity or depression on the lingual aspect of the mandible near the lower border; 17 (2) a well-defined round or ovoid or occasionally lobulated radiolucency that ranges in diameter from 1 to 3 cm, below the inferior alveolar canal and anterior to the angle of the mandible, in the region of the antegonial notch and the submandibular gland fossa; 18 (3) a corticated unilocular radiolucency below the mandibular canal, between the first molar and a the angle of the mandible, with rare location in the ramus of the mandible (buccal or lingual); 19 (4) a developmental depression along the mesial aspect of the mandible most commonly near the angle but sometimes along the body more anteriorly; 20 (5) a not always corticated, well-defined round or oval defect or pseudocyst in the lingual surface of the mandible, usually at the mandibular angle caudally to the mandibular canal, seldom in the anterior part of the mandible. 21,22 The SBC is also known under a myriad of synonyms: Stafne bone cavity, lingual salivary gland depression, lingual mandibular bone depression, developmental salivary gland defect, Stafne defect, static bone cavity, latent bone cyst, mandibular salivary gland defect and idiopathic bone cavity. The aim of the present narrative review was to investigate, verify and map the different locations of a SBC from publications that actually showed the radiographs with the exact location of the lesion.…”