Anatomic and radiologic course of the mandibular incisive canal

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to define the anatomic and radiographic courses of the incisive mandibular canal and discuss its clinical significance. The study group comprised of 46 hemimandibles fixed in formalin. After radiographic examination, the buccal cortical plate of the mandible was removed leaving the bony frame of the incisive bundle intact. The morphology of the bony walls of the canal was evaluated, as having complete, partial, or no cortical walls. The course of the intraosseous pathway of the canal and its diameter in four different locations were recorded. An incisive bundle was anatomically found in all hemimandibles, travelling within a canal with complete (n = 10), partial (n = 27), or no (n = 9) bony cortical borders. The diameter of the canal ranged from 0.48 mm to 2.9 mm. Radiographically, the canal was either well defined (n = 11, 24%), poorly defined (n = 15, 32%), or undetectable (n = 20, 44%). A statistically significant correlation was found between the anatomic structure of the incisive canal bony borders and its radiographic detectability (p = 0.043). No correlation was found between the anatomic and radiological width of the incisive canal diameter. An incisive canal with a large diameter could have an important role in successful osteointegration and prevention of postoperative sensory disturbances. According to the present study, the ability to interpret the incisive canal from conventional radiographs is limited. Therefore, it is recommended to use conventional tomographs or computerised tomographic dental scans for better imaging of the intermental foraminal area.

Prevalence and Morphometric Characteristics of the Mandibular Incisive Canal through Panoramic Radiographs in a Chilean Population

“…The mandibular incisive canal (MIC) is an anterior extension of the mandibular canal from the mental foramen, which contains a neurovascular bundle (Mardinger et al, 2000;Romanos et al, 2012). The precise anatomy and content of the MIC are still a matter of discussion (Beltrán et al, 2011).…”

Evaluation of the Size and Location of the Genial Plexus, Related to Age, Sex and Dental Presence, in Implant Surgeries

“…They stated that CBCT is particularly suitable for the mandible since it enables the 3D reconstruction of high-resolution images of the entire mandible [26] because conventional radiographs often fail to show an incisive canal. [27] There was no significant difference (p value = 0.564) between the diameter of the genial plexus in edentulous and dentate patients, the mean value in both groups being 1.24 ± 0.41 mm and 1.24 ± 0.61 mm, respectively. Similar results were found by [28] (mean 1.3 mm, range 0.5 -2 mm at the entrance of the incisive canal) [11] and (mean 1.48 ± 0.66 mm) with no difference in the diameter of the incisive bundle between a dentate and edentulous group.…”

“…Similar results were found by [28] (mean 1.3 mm, range 0.5 -2 mm at the entrance of the incisive canal) [11] and (mean 1.48 ± 0.66 mm) with no difference in the diameter of the incisive bundle between a dentate and edentulous group. However, reported a mean diameter of 1.8 ± 0.5 mm for this canal [27]. A spiral CT scan study presented a larger buccal diameter of the bony canal in dentate mandibles, although the authors considered the number of edentulous patients as limited [6].…”

Assessment of the mandibular incisive canal by panoramic radiograph and cone-beam computed tomography

“…Second, the MIC is narrower and has less bony corticalization than inferior alveolar canal. 24 It has also been reported 17 that the diameter of the MIC decreased from its origin to end. These are obvious disadvantages in DPR technique.…”

“…26 An incisive bundle can be seen as having complete, partial, or no cortical walls. 17 Thus, it may be advocated that real incidence of the MIC might be even higher than the ratio found in CBCT images.…”