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KMID : 0353320130370020120
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Oral Biology Research
2013 Volume.37 No. 2 p.120 ~ p.124
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Morphological arrangement of mental branch in inferior alveolar nerve using histomorphometric analysis
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Lee Chul-Kwon
Lee Myoung-Hwa
Mo Shin-Yeob
Lee Dong-Seol
Yu Sun-Kyoung
Cho Kwang-Hee
Kim Heung-Joong
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Abstract
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Purpose: The inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) is vulnerable to injury from implant placement and surgical procedures in the mandibular region. The purpose of this study was to measure and assess the relative areas, bundle numbers, and locations of the mental branch (MB) and dental branch (DB) within IAN.
Materials and Methods: Twenty dentulous hemimandibles were examined (eight males and two females, mean age: 58.2 years). Hemimandibles were decalcified for 10 days, after which the specimens were embedded in paraffin and cut at a thickness of 8 μm. The sections were then stained with hematoxylin & eosin and then observed by light microscopy. The areas, bundle numbers, and locations of the MB and DB were measured using image analysis software applied to histological photographs.
Results: The MB showed a tendency to maintain its area, whereas the area of the DB, which gave off branches to each tooth traveling within the mandibular canal, decreased toward the anterior tooth. The MB usually comprised four nerve bundles, each wrapped in the perineurium. Based on the location of the MB, the DB was located superobuccally in the molar region and traveled superolingually in the premolar region.
Conclusion: These results show that the IAN consists of two major nerve bundles in which the MB and DB are separately enveloped in the perineurium, and the area of the MB is larger in comparison with that of the DB. Therefore, more careful surgical procedures in the mandibular region are needed to avoid nerve injury.
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KEYWORD
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Dental branch, Inferior alveolar nerve, Mental branch
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