Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the size and morphology of the mandible, and to identify the location of the mandibular canal for the planning of the dental implantation.
Methods: CT data of 79 Japanese patients (52 male and 27 female) were analyzed.
Results: The means of the height and width ranged from 27.6 to 31.0 mm and from 10.5 to 15.8 mm, respectively. The height in male subjects was significantly greater than that in female subjects, and the width in male subjects was slightly but not significantly greater than that in female subjects. The morphology of the mandible was classified into three types. Type C (round) (59-61%) was the most common in the posterior region, followed by type A (lingual concavity) (36-39%), whereas type B (buccal concavity) (58-74%) and type C (17-36%) were the most common types in the anterior region. The distance from the mandibular canal to the alveolar crest, ranged from 15.3 to 17.4 mm. The anterior loop, was observed on 55% of all sides.
Conclusions: The size and morphology of the mandible and the location of the mandibular canal were determined clearly using cross-sectional CT images.