Imaging-Guided Surgical Decision-Making and Bone Healing in Mandibular Cystic and Tumor-like Lesions: A Case-Based Radiologic Observation

Background and Clinical Significance: Mandibular cystic lesions are heterogeneous in biologic behavior, radiologic appearance, and surgical management. Treatment selection is influenced by lesion extent, cortical bone condition, structural stability, and proximity to adjacent teeth and vital anatomical structures. In large mandibular lesions, case-specific decision-making may range from staged decompression or marsupialization to single-stage enucleation, peripheral ostectomy, graft-assisted reconstruction, and preventive mandibular plating (PMP). Case Presentation: In the first case, a 60-year-old female presented with bilateral mandibular lesions: a dentigerous cyst on the right side, treated with marsupialization followed by enucleation, and a contralateral glandular odontogenic cyst (GOC) managed with primary enucleation alone. The second case involved a large, unilateral odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) managed with a radical approach, including enucleation followed by peripheral ostectomy and PMP. Histopathologic evaluation was performed in both cases to confirm diagnosis and support definitive treatment planning. Radiologic follow-up at 1 year demonstrated bone regeneration in all treated sites. Conclusions: This case report presents two different clinical cases involving three mandibular cystic lesions managed according to case-specific surgical indications and evaluated with standardized postoperative panoramic and CBCT imaging; limited supportive assessment of trabecular bone remodeling was also performed to further characterize radiologic healing patterns. The authors aimed to descriptively document postoperative bone condition, radiologic healing, and patient safety in these cases, and to highlight the most important surgical and radiological findings that may influence case-specific clinical decision-making.