Introduction:

Simple bone cyst (SBC) is an intraosseous pseudocyst, of unknown etiology, which represents 1% of maxillary cysts. Radiographically, a radiolucent image with well-defined, irregular or scalloped edges is observed. Treatment consists of surgical exploration and curettage of bone walls. Spontaneous resolution has rarely been described. The purpose of this paper is to present a case of spontaneous resolution of SBC and perform a literature review.

Case Report:

A 12-year-old woman attends to a routine dental evaluation. Panoramic radiography shows a radiolucent image between roots of teeth 4.4 and 4.5, of well-defined corticated borders. It was complemented with cone-beam computed tomography examination, where thinning of cortical bone was observed. A presumptive diagnosis of SBC was performed. Controls at 3 and 3,5 years were performed and bone of slightly higher density than the surrounding bone was observed.

Materials and methods:

A literature review on SBC of spontaneous resolution was performed in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, relating the free terms “simple bone cyst” “spontaneous resolution” “jaws” and their variants.

Results:

13 cases of spontaneous resolution of SBC were found. The clinical and radiographic characteristics of the cases coincide with the literature. 54% of cases had spontaneous resolution in a period of 5 years or less.

Conclusion:

In the case presented, radiographic follow-up of the patient was performed, demonstrating that following-up can be considered as treatment, since the lesion could resolve spontaneously.

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