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An anatomic study of the lingual nerve in the third molar region
H Behnia1, A Kheradvar, M Shahrokhi
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. behnia_h@hotmail.com
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to determine the location of the lingual nerve in the lower third molar region.
Patients And Methods:
In this study, 669 nerves from 430 fresh cadavers were examined. Measurements on each cadaver were made using a micrometer caliper to determine the horizontal and vertical position of the lingual nerve in the lower third molar region.
Results:
In 94 cases (14.05%), the nerve was above the lingual crest, and in 1 case (0.15%), the nerve was in the retromolar pad region. In the remaining 574 cases (85.80%), the mean horizontal and vertical distances of the nerve to the lingual plate and the lingual crest 2.06 +/- 1.10 mm (range, 0.00 to 3.20 mm) and 3.01 +/- 0.42 mm (range, 1.70 to 4.00 mm), respectively. In 149 cases (22.27%), the nerve was in direct contact with the lingual plate of the alveolar process.
Conclusions:
This study confirms the relatively unsafe position of the lingual nerve in relation to some oral and maxillofacial surgery procedures.