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Prevalence of bifid mandibular canals in panoramic radiographs: a maxillofacial surgical scope

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Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of bifid mandibular canals in patients treated at the Dental Clinic of the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil.

Methods

The sample consisted of 3,024 panoramic radiographs from male (n = 1,155) and female (n = 1,869) patients (mean age 30 years). An experienced radiologist analyzed the panoramic radiographs according to the study of Langlais et al. (J Am Dental Assoc 110:923–926, 1985), which classifies bifid mandibular canals into four different types.

Results

Sixty patients (1.98 %) presented bifid mandibular canals. Specifically, 50 patients revealed bifid mandibular canals type I, while 10 patients revealed bifid mandibular canals type II. All the variations were unilateral. In addition, statistically significant results were not observed for gender distribution.

Conclusion

The present findings indicate a low prevalence of morphologic alterations of the mandibular canal in the studied population. However, the present outcome highlights the clinical relevance of investigating the radiologic morphology of the mandibular canal prior to surgical interventions.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Dr. Evelyn Louise Antonio for supporting the data selection during the present study.

Ethical standards

The present research complies with the current ethical laws of the country in which it was performed.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Stomatology, Federal University of Paraná, Av. Prefeito Lothário Meissner, 632 Jardim Botânico, Curitiba, Paraná, 80210-170, Brazil

    Adriano Kuczynski, William Kucharski, Fernando Henrique Westphalen, Antonio Adilson Soares de Lima & Ângela Fernandes

  2. Department of Oral Health Sciences, Forensic Odontology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ademir Franco

  3. Department of Stomatology, School of Health and Biosciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

    Fernando Henrique Westphalen

Authors
  1. Adriano Kuczynski
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  2. William Kucharski
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  3. Ademir Franco
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  4. Fernando Henrique Westphalen
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  5. Antonio Adilson Soares de Lima
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  6. Ângela Fernandes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ângela Fernandes.

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Kuczynski, A., Kucharski, W., Franco, A. et al. Prevalence of bifid mandibular canals in panoramic radiographs: a maxillofacial surgical scope. Surg Radiol Anat 36, 847–850 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-014-1298-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-014-1298-2

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