AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate if and how decompression alters histopathologic diagnoses of cystic jaw lesions. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on patients with a histologic diagnosis of an odontogenic cystic lesion that was surgically treated with decompression followed by a definitive surgery. The correlation between variables including age, gender, location of the lesion, decompression time and the change in histopathologic diagnosis following decompression was analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients were included in the study. The mean decompression time was 7.87 ± 3.43 months. Post-decompression histologic examination at time of definitive surgery was consistent with the initial biopsy diagnosis in 83.33% (5 of 6) of odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs), 94.11% (16 of 17) of radicular cysts, 100% of dentigerous cysts, and 100% of residual cysts. The change in histopathologic diagnosis of the cystic lesions was not found to be statistically correlated with the study variables. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathologic diagnoses of odontogenic cystic lesions predominantly remain unchanged after decompression. A treatment protocol based on the initial diagnosis may be appropriate for odontogenic cystic lesions that are considered for decompression before definitive surgery.