Imaging study of the mandibular forward canal in adults based on cone beam CT

To explore the imaging characteristics of the mandibular nerve canal in adults to provide a reference for clinical mandibular surgery.

One thousand adult patients in Guiyang Stomatological Hospital from January 2018 to January 2021 were randomly selected. Cone beam CT (CBCT) was used to observe the anterior mandibular canal and other branches, and the incidence of anterior canal in the mandibular ramus area, posterior molar area and molar area and the distance to each point of the mandible were measured.

Of the 901 patients (1802 sides) included in the study, 386 patients (42.84%) found branches of the mandibular canal, and 182 patients (97 males and 85 females) found the Anterograde Canal 20.20% (182/901). In total, 225 mandibles were found to have anterior canals. There were 101 cases of left mandible and 124 cases of right mandible. The forward canal mainly occurred in the molar area, the molar posterior area and the ascending branch area, and the ascending branch area was the best starting point of the forward canal and the molar stopping point (P < 0.05). The average length of the forward canal (L1) was (10.364 ± 3.833) mm, the average height of the forward canal to the main trunk of the mandibular nerve (L2-RRB) was (3.623 ± 2.035) mm, and the average height of the forward canal to the crest of the alveolar ridL3 (l3) was (9.280 ± 3.240) mm.

Mandibular nerve canal branches are common, and there were no differences in male, female and lateral distribution. In this study, the incidence of mandibular anterior canal was the highest, and it often occurred in the molar area.