Joe Iwanaga1,2,3, Yuki Matsushita4,5, Tess Decater1,6, Soichiro Ibaragi7, R Shane Tubbs1,6,8,9. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 2. Dental and Oral Medical Center, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan. 3. Division of Gross and Clinical Anatomy, Department of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan. 4. School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 5. Department of Clinical Oral Oncology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan. 6. Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George's University, St. George's, Grenada. 7. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan. 8. Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 9. Department of Neurosurgery and Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The mandibular canal, as it was formerly named in Terminologia Anatomica (TA), has also been called the inferior alveolar (nerve) canal in many scientific publications. This study was conducted to investigate how these terms have been understood in different regions and different areas of expertise and to discuss the appropriate future application of the term "mandibular canal." METHODS: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, and articles using different terms for this structure were classified into two groups, inferior alveolar canal/inferior alveolar nerve canal (IAC/IANC) and the mandibular canal (MC). The 50 most recent articles in each group were included. Publication year, journal title, country of the first author, and affiliation of all authors were recorded in both groups for all 100 articles. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the IAC/IANC and MC groups in the numbers of anatomy journals, other journals, and anatomy affiliations. Turkey published most frequently with a total of 15 articles, followed by Iran with 10 articles, and China/India/United States with seven each. When the six countries of the first author that had three or more publications in each group were compared, only Turkey appeared in both groups; otherwise, different countries were in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this analysis, and considering that the tentative new term "inferior alveolar foramen" is used in the latest TA, we suggest that the mandibular canal should be renamed the "inferior alveolar canal."
INTRODUCTION: The mandibular canal, as it was formerly named in Terminologia Anatomica (TA), has also been called the inferior alveolar (nerve) canal in many scientific publications. This study was conducted to investigate how these terms have been understood in different regions and different areas of expertise and to discuss the appropriate future application of the term "mandibular canal." METHODS: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, and articles using different terms for this structure were classified into two groups, inferior alveolar canal/inferior alveolar nerve canal (IAC/IANC) and the mandibular canal (MC). The 50 most recent articles in each group were included. Publication year, journal title, country of the first author, and affiliation of all authors were recorded in both groups for all 100 articles. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the IAC/IANC and MC groups in the numbers of anatomy journals, other journals, and anatomy affiliations. Turkey published most frequently with a total of 15 articles, followed by Iran with 10 articles, and China/India/United States with seven each. When the six countries of the first author that had three or more publications in each group were compared, only Turkey appeared in both groups; otherwise, different countries were in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this analysis, and considering that the tentative new term "inferior alveolar foramen" is used in the latest TA, we suggest that the mandibular canal should be renamed the "inferior alveolar canal."