Median Lingual Foramen, a new midmandibular cephalometric landmark

Abstract

Surgical correction of mandibular asymmetry is challenging in the field of orthognathic surgery. The aberrant shape as well as the malposition of the mandible results in multiplanar facial asymmetries. 1 The emergence of three-dimensional (3D) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) has enabled orthognathic surgeons to diagnose maxillofacial deformities and to allow a more accurate pre-operative planning. 1-6 Whilst planning an operation, cephalometric landmarks are used to determine the morphology of the facial skeleton. The traditional landmarks to indicate the midline of the mandible include pogonion, mention and genial tubercle. The reliability and reproducibility of conventional cephalometric landmarks were validated on patients without a clinically significant asymmetry of the mandible. 3,7-10 In asymmetrical cases, the landmarks are more difficult to identify. Mirroring is frequently used to superimpose one hemimandible upon the other in order to analyse the severity of mandibular asymmetries and calculate the difference in volume. It provides accurate

Anatomical evaluation of the medial lingual foramen using cone-beam computed tomography: a retrospective study

“…Textbooks on dental anatomy also fail to consistently note the presence of the MLF. However, the MLF is well identified in textbooks related to oral radiographic anatomy because of its cortical contour [4,5].…”