Cone Beam Computed Tomographic Analysis of the Shape, Height, and Location of the Mandibular Lingula in a Population of Children
Figure 2
Three-dimensional CBCT image of the internal surface of the mandible showing the measurement for localizing the position of the lingula, entrance of mandibular foramen from the various landmarks. The “” measurement indicated the distance in millimetres found between the most anterior part of the mandibular lingula points to the anterior border of the mandibular ramus in a straight horizontal line; the “” measurement represented the distance between the most posterior part of the mandibular lingula and foramen points to the posterior border of the mandibular ramus in the same horizontal orientation; the “” measurement determined the distance between the lower point of the mandibular foramen and lingula points to the mandibular base in a vertical straight line; the “” measurement determined the distance most anterior part of the mandibular lingula points to the alveolar socket of first mandibular molar tooth; the “” measurement determined the distance between the same initial points as for the distance to the lower point of the sigmoid notch. The horizontal distances were measured parallel to the occlusal plane (OP) of the molars, whereas the vertical distances were measured perpendicular to the occlusal plane of the molars. The ratio of () to () was also calculated and used as an additional guide to localize the lingula [21]. Vertical distance from the tip of the lingula to the lower border of the mandibular foramen was measured as height of the lingula (). The measurement included the distance from the lingula to the occlusal plane of the molars ().
