Lingual Vascular Canal: How Far or How Close is it?

Research title: Lingual vascular canal - How far or how close is it Research question: What is the distance of the lingual vascular canal from the crestal bone, the labial bone and the deviations, if present, from the midline AIM: To assess the variations in the dimensions from the crestal and the cortical bone to a lesser known lingual vascular canal in the anterior mandible region. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the distance of the lingual vascular canal from the crestal bone, the labial bone and the deviations from the midline for implant planning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total sample of 55 CBCT scans were collected out of which 10 showed lingual vascular canal with anterior teeth missing and were subjected to radiological evaluation. The anatomical position of lingual vascular canal to the crestal bone and labial cortical bone along with deviations from the midline were assessed in the cross sectional view. The mean value of the results were obtained and tabulated. RESULTS: The average distance from crestal bone was found to be 14.05 mm and the average distance from labial bone was found to be 5.7mm. The average deviation from the midline was found to be 2 mm towards either the left or the right side.