Marsupialization is a minor surgical procedure which involves cutting an opening into a cyst to allow it to drain freely. Since the cyst is allowed to drain, the size and amount of pressure are also reduced. As a result, the amount of discomfort in the area is greatly reduced.
I had a marsupialization performed recently. I had noticed that the left side of my jaw felt different than the right side. After about a month or so, the area began to swell and become painful. I went to my dentist who told me that the swelling was likely due to an impacted wisdom tooth which was in a precarious position, and he told me I needed to see an oral surgeon.
At my first visit with the surgeon, I was told that the swelling was probably due to a cyst, but that we couldn’t be sure until a biopsy was performed. He felt that the most likely diagnosis would be either a dentigerous cyst or an odontogenic keratocyst. Due to the characteristics of the cyst, my doctor thought it most resembled a dentigerous cyst, but again, a biopsy would be necessary.
On the day of the biopsy, my surgeon needed to remove one molar from the lower left side in order to access the cyst. Once he did, he made an incision and removed two tissue samples, which were sent to a pathology lab. When this was completed, he placed a small tube in the opening and stitched it into my gum. The tube ran from inside the cyst, along the side of my mouth, around the gum line.
About a week or so later, the results came back and we were both surprised to find out that I didn’t have a dentigerous cyst or an odontogenic keratocyst. It was actually a tumor called ameloblastoma. In some cases, ameloblastoma displays characteristics that are similar to a cyst. This was espcially true in my case.
About two months later, I had a jaw resection in order to remove the tumor and a section of my mandible. Everyone who knew about my health problems asked me if I was in pain, but fortunately, I had almost no discomfort at all. When I had the swelling initially, I was in tremendous pain because there was a build up of pressure in the area, but I believe the marsupialization prevented me from being in pain because it never allowed any pressure to build in the area.
The marsupialization was performed in the doctor’s office under local anesthesia. Numbing the area, removing the tooth, performing the biopsy, and the marsupialization all took about an hour or so, and I had almost no pain. Over all, I think it made my condition much more bearable.
