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Review
. 2019 Jun;49(2):79-86.
doi: 10.5624/isd.2019.49.2.79. Epub 2019 Jun 24.

Common conditions associated with displacement of the inferior alveolar nerve canal: A radiographic diagnostic aid

Affiliations
Review

Common conditions associated with displacement of the inferior alveolar nerve canal: A radiographic diagnostic aid

Hamed Mortazavi et al. Imaging Sci Dent. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: This study reviewed the common conditions associated with displacement of inferior alveolar nerve canal.

Materials and methods: General search engines and specialized databases including Google Scholar, Pub Med, Pub Med Central, Science Direct, and Scopus were used to find relevant studies by using keywords such as "mandibular canal", "alveolar canal", "inferior alveolar nerve canal", "inferior dental canal", "inferior mandibular canal" and "displacement".

Results: About 120 articles were found, of which approximately 70 were broadly relevant to the topic. We ultimately included 37 articles that were closely related to the topic of interest. When the data were compiled, the following 8 lesions were found to have a relationship with displacement of mandibular canal: radicular/residual cysts, dentigerous cyst, odontogenic keratocyst, aneurysmal bone cyst, ameloblastoma, central giant cell granuloma, fibrous dysplasis, and cementossifying fibroma.

Conclusion: When clinicians encounter a lesion associated with displaced mandibular canal, they should first consider these entities in the differential diagnosis. This review would help dentists make more accurate diagnoses and develop better treatment plans according to patients' radiographs.

Keywords: Mandibular Nerves; Odontogenic Cysts; Odontogenic Tumors.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows downward displacement of the mandibular canal in a patient with a radicular cyst.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows the inferiorly displaced mandibular canal in a patient with a dentigerous cyst.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows downward displacement of the mandibular canal in a patient with an odontogenic keratocyst.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows downward displacement of the mandibular canal in a patient with an aneurysmal bone cyst.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows the inferiorly displaced mandibular canal in a patient with ameloblastoma.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. A panoramic reconstructed cone-beam computed tomographic image shows inferior displacement of the mandibular canal in a patient with central giant cell granuloma.

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