Research Article
The Position of the Mandibular Canal between the Mandibular Cortical Plates: A Cone Beam Computed Tomographic Analysis
Chiriţă Andrei LeonidObjective: As the mandibular canal can be located anywhere between the buccal, lingual and basilar plates, the present study tries to classify its position inside the mandibular body. Methods: To clarify the position of the mandibular canal inside the mandibular body, 30 Cone Beam Computed Tomography scans were analyzed and the distances from the mandibular canal to the surrounding mandibular cortical plates were measured on 4 levels of sections corresponding to the mesial and distal roots of the first two mandibular molars. Results: The distance from the mandibular canal to the external surface of the buccal plate ranged from 1.77 to 8.96, with an average 4.89 mm at the mesial root end of the first molar and 5.71 mm at the distal root end of the second molar. The distances from the mandibular canal to the lingual surface of the cortical bone ranged between 5.84 and 0.56 mm with an average of 2.48 mm at the mesial root end of the first molar and 2.42 mm at the distal root end of the second molar. Conclusion: The mandibular canal was found to be located closer to the lingual cortical bone in all of the four levels of sections and therefore it is safe, if necessary, to extend the cortical osteotomy for bone harvesting on the cortical plate in the molar area.