The human mandibular canal arises from three separate canals innervating different tooth groups

The purpose of this study was to describe the prenatal formation of the human mandibular canal. Since bony canals develop in prenatal life around the nerve paths, it was assumed that the canal pattern could reflect the pattern of innervation of the dentition. Mapping of this early canal pattern does not appear to have been undertaken before. The material consisted of anthropological mandibles from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City. A total of 302 human hemimandibles from the latter half of the prenatal period was investigated. The length, measured from the mental symphysis to the mandibular condyle, ranged from 28 to 60 mm. The dento-alveolar maturity was classified in two stages according to the appearance of alveolar sockets of deciduous and first permanent molars. The mandibles were radiographed with guttapercha points inserted into the canal openings (foramina) on the lingual surfaces of the mandibular rami. The study showed that the canal to the incisors appeared first, followed by the canal to the primary molars, and last by the one or more canals to the first permanent molars. In the most mature group, three different canals always occurred in each hemimandible. The canals were directed from the lingual surface of the mandibular ramus toward the different tooth groups. The inferior alveolar nerve presumably occurs in the mandible as three individual nerve paths originating at different stages of development. It is suggested that rapid prenatal growth and remodeling in the ramus region result in a gradual coalescence of the canal entrances that is obvious at birth. It is hypothesized that the pattern of tooth agenesis within the three groups of teeth is related to the three separate paths of innervation of the dentition.