Estudo tomográfico da posição das foraminas linguais

Abstract

To identify the lingual foramina in a Brazilian population of 210 individuals using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography images, in order to guide the installation of dental implants in the region of the mentual symphysis. After identifying the lingual foramina on a parasagittal section, four measurements were taken: distance to the alveolar ridge, distance to the mandibular lower border, distance to the buccal cortical border, and alveolar ridge inclination angle. The measurements were compared in relation to gender by the Mann- Whitney test. The comparison between gender and number of foramina was obtained by the chi-square test. Age and number of foramina were compared by Pearson's correlation. Lingual foramina were present in 99.6% of the individuals. A mean distance to the alveolar ridge of 21.4 mm is noted, the mean distance to the lower mandibular border was 13.1 mm. A mean distance from the foramina to the buccal cortex of 15.2 mm was observed. The inclination angle of the alveolar ridge had a mean of 25.4◦. Regarding gender, the test was significant for the distances from the lingual foramina to the alveolar crest, to the base of the mandible and the inclination angle of the alveolar ridge. The lingual foramina had a downward path in 100% of the cases, being positioned in the middle thirds (66.5%) and lower thirds (32.7%) of the mandibular ridge height. The use of dental implants up to 13 mm in length and up to 4 mm in diameter is recommended in the symphysis mentual region.