Length and Geometric Patterns of the Greater Palatine Canal Observed in Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Table 2

Average angles and directional distances of observed canal pathways. The table below summarizes the average angle and distance traveled in each component when a canal traveled of the vertical in each of the major canal pathways in both planes. The straight inferior trend viewed in the coronal plane is not included because canals following this pathway followed a direct vertical path.

Figure	Pathway	Directional distance	Right canal	Left canal
Medial-Lateral (Coronal) Direction
Figure 2(b)	Canal travels inferior-lateral for a distance then directly inferior for the remainder	Inferior-lateral angle (degrees)	28 (±6)	28 (±6)
		Inferior-lateral distance (mm)	8 (±2)	8 (±4)
Figure 2(c)	Canal travels inferior-lateral for a distance then inferior-medial for the remainder	Inferior-lateral angle (degrees)	25 (±7)	23 (±3)
		Inferior-lateral distance (mm)	10 (±3)	11 (±4)
		Inferior-medial angle (degrees)	11 (±5)	11 (±4)
Anterior-Posterior (Sagittal) Direction
Figure 3(a)	Canal travels anterior-inferior	Anterior-inferior angle (degrees)	27 (±6)	27 (±6)
Figure 3(b)	Canal travels directly inferior for a distance then anterior-inferior for the remainder	Directly inferior distance (mm)	9 (±4)	8 (±3)
		Anterior-inferior angle (degrees)	33 (±6)	33 (±6)