Abstract
Purpose: To describe the presence and anatomical characteristics of lingual foramina and canals using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in a sample of Chilean dry mandibles. Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography images of 68 adult mandibles of indeterminate sex and age were analyzed. The description of number and position of lingual foramina were tabulated using a position regarding the mental spines (superior, between, and inferior to the mental spines). Area and diameter of the foramina and length of the canals found were measured. Results: All the mandibles had one or more lingual foramen. The median was 3 foramina with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 4. The most frequent positions were superior and inferior with 88% and 85% of presence, respectively. The lingual canal diameter obtained for the superior position was 1.04 ± 0.38 mm, for the between position was 1.02 ± 0.5 mm, and finally 1 ± 0.3 mm for the inferior position. The lingual canal length for the superior position was 6.38 ± 2.4 mm, for the between position 6.77 ± 1.33, and 5.38 ± 0.25 mm for the inferior position. Conclusions: All the mandibles have one or more lingual foramina. The most frequent positions were superior and inferior. Many of the lingual foramina found were over 1 mm in diameter. The lingual canal length was over 5 mm for all the positions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1405-1410 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding The work was supported by the Department of Human Anatomy of Universidad de los Andes, Chile. This support was in term of infrastructure and bone material, and no grants were used in the preparation of this publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Cone-beam computed tomography
- Lingual canal
- Lingual foramen
- Mandibular anatomy