Prevalence of dentigerous cysts (ovine odontogenic cysts) in ewes in the South Island of New Zealand

Abstract

Cysts in the anterior mandible of sheep are reportedly uncommon in New Zealand((1)) although their prevalence and economic significance are unknown. They usually develop around an unerupted permanent incisor, perhaps as a result of an abnormality in the eruption process, but their pathogenesis is not clear. They appear as solitary swellings which grow slowly and are lined by stratified squamous epithelium. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of these lesions in mixed-age ewes at meat plants in the South Island of New Zealand.