RESUMEN
Dentigerous cyst is the most common type of developmental odontogenic cyst which originates from REE. It has the capacity for transformation to ameloblastoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. ki-67 and PCNA are two cell proliferation markers which can be both detected in cysts and tumors of epithelial origin. In this study we detected these two markers to evaluate the role of cell proliferation in the pathogenesis of dentigerous cysts. This study was a descriptive one. Twenty cases of dentigerous cysts and twenty cases of dental follicles were selected from paraffin-embedded blocks stored in pathology department of Shaheed Beheshti Dental School. The slides were stained with IHC method and streptavidin-avidin biotin technique. Statisticals were applied to evaluate the results. 25% dental follicles stained with ki-67 and this was 70% in dentigerous cyst. 35% of dental follicles were positive for PCNA and this amount was 80% in dentigerous cyst. It seems that higher expression of these two markers in dentigerous cyst has an indisputable role in pathogenesis of such cysts. Further studies in this field is recommended