Comparison of two submandibular incisions on the motor function of the lower lip

The usual submandibular surgical approach to the mandible carries with it the risk of injury to the mandibular ramus of the seventh nerve. This may result in transient or permanent palsy of the lip. In a study of twenty operative procedures, of which half were performed at the conventional level and the other half at a lower level, an interesting contrast in facial nerve involvement was noted: 50 per cent at the conventional incision and none at the inferior one.