Joe Iwanaga1,2,3,4, Yohei Takeshita5, Yuki Matsushita6, Mi-Sun Hur7, Soichiro Ibaragi8, R Shane Tubbs9,10,11,12,13,14,15. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, 131 S. Robertson St. Suite 1300, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA. iwanagajoeca@gmail.com. 2. Department of Neurology, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. iwanagajoeca@gmail.com. 3. Dental and Oral Medical Center, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. iwanagajoeca@gmail.com. 4. Division of Gross and Clinical Anatomy, Department of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. iwanagajoeca@gmail.com. 5. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan. 6. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry, Houston, USA. 7. Department of Anatomy, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea. 8. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan. 9. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, 131 S. Robertson St. Suite 1300, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA. 10. Department of Neurology, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. 11. Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George's University, St. George's, Grenada. 12. Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. 13. Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. 14. Department of Neurosurgery and Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA, USA. 15. University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Since cone-beam computed tomography was developed, a number of radiological studies on the bifid mandibular canals (BMCs) and trifid mandibular canals (TMCs) have been reported. However, many of the suggested subtypes of the BMC described in the literature seem to be normal branches of the inferior alveolar nerve. This might be due to a lack of revisiting classic anatomical studies in the field of radiology. Therefore, such studies are revisited here. METHODS: A database search using PubMed and Google Scholar was conducted on BMC and TMC. Eighty-nine articles underwent full-text assessment. The reported three classifications of BMC and the six modified classifications were reviewed and compared to the intramandibular inferior alveolar nerve branches. RESULTS: Some subtypes of BMC and TMC simply represent normal inferior alveolar nerve branches, i.e., retromolar branch, molar branch (alveolar branch/dental branch), large mental branch, or communicating branch. Others such as Naitoh's type III BMC and forward canal might be a true BMC. CONCLUSION: We found that the bifid mandibular canal is an additional intramandibular canal running parallel to the mandibular canal with/without confluence with the main canal through comparison of classifications of BMC/TMC between the radiology and anatomy fields.
PURPOSE: Since cone-beam computed tomography was developed, a number of radiological studies on the bifid mandibular canals (BMCs) and trifid mandibular canals (TMCs) have been reported. However, many of the suggested subtypes of the BMC described in the literature seem to be normal branches of the inferior alveolar nerve. This might be due to a lack of revisiting classic anatomical studies in the field of radiology. Therefore, such studies are revisited here. METHODS: A database search using PubMed and Google Scholar was conducted on BMC and TMC. Eighty-nine articles underwent full-text assessment. The reported three classifications of BMC and the six modified classifications were reviewed and compared to the intramandibular inferior alveolar nerve branches. RESULTS: Some subtypes of BMC and TMC simply represent normal inferior alveolar nerve branches, i.e., retromolar branch, molar branch (alveolar branch/dental branch), large mental branch, or communicating branch. Others such as Naitoh's type III BMC and forward canal might be a true BMC. CONCLUSION: We found that the bifid mandibular canal is an additional intramandibular canal running parallel to the mandibular canal with/without confluence with the main canal through comparison of classifications of BMC/TMC between the radiology and anatomy fields.
Authors: Joe Iwanaga; Soichiro Ibaragi; Yohei Takeshita; Junichi Asaumi; Keith Horner; Thomas R Gest; R Shane Tubbs Journal: Clin Anat Date: 2021-05-05 Impact factor: 2.414