Сross-sectional anatomic study of direct positional relationships between mandibular canal and roots of posterior teeth using cone beam computed tomography

Objectives: to establish the frequency of the various types of direct contacts of the root apices with the wall of the mandibular canal and to determine gender differences in number of such contacts in a selected belarusian population using cone beam computed tomography. methodology: one hundred and two cone beam computed tomography scans were analyzed to classify the types of contact and three-dimensional relationship between the mandibular teeth and the mandibular canal. results: the direct contact between the teeth and the mandibular canal was observed in 63.7 percent of patients. overall 300 roots of 189 teeth were in direct contact with the mandibular canal: 9.3 percent were second premolars, 14.7 percent were first molars, 33.8 percent were second molars and 50.0 percent were third molars. there were no statistically significant differences in the number of teeth with direct contact with the mandibular canal between males and females. conclusion: the direct contact of the root apices with the mandibular canal was most often found in the second and third molars. the root apices of the third molars had the greatest variability of location relatively to the mandibular canal.

Topography of the inferior alveolar nerve in human embryos and fetuses: an histomorphological study

The aim of this study is to establish the position of the inferior alveolar nerve in relation to the Meckel's cartilage, the anlage of the mandibular body and primordia of the teeth, and also to trace the change in nerve trunk structure in the human prenatal ontogenesis. serial sections (20µm) from thirty-two 6-12 weeks-old entire human embryos and serial sections (10µm) of six mandibles of 13-20 weeks-old human fetuses without developmental abnormalities were studied. histological sections were impregnated with silver nitrate according to Bilshovsky-Buke and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. during embryonic development, the number of branches of the inferior alveolar nerve increases and its fascicular structure changes. in conclusion, the architecture of intraosseous canals in the body of the mandible, as well as the location of the foramina, is predetermined by the course and pattern of the vessel/nerve branching in the mandibular arch, even before the formation of bony trabeculae. particularly, the formation of the incisive canal of the mandible can be explained by the presence of the incisive nerve as the extension of the inferior alveolar nerve. It has also been established that Meckel's cartilage does not participate in mandibular canal morphogenesis.