Clinical prosection for dental gross anatomy: a medial approach to the pterygomandibular space

This paper describes a prosection of the pterygomandibular space from a medial perspective, as the dentist would encounter it. The prosection is performed on a bisected head, with vertebrae removed. The preparation can be used to demonstrate to the student the exact course of a needle during an inferior alveolar nerve block. The anatomical structures involved in performing the conventional, Gow-Gates, or Akinosi injection techniques are directly compared. The impingement of a misplaced needle on neighboring structures can be demonstrated.