The purpose of this study is to evaluate the position of the mandibular foramen and location and morphological characteristics of the mandibular lingula using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).
Mandibular CBCT images of children aged 6 - 16 years were collected. A total of 180 patients were divided into 3 groups, 6 - 7, 10 - 11 and 15 - 16 years, with 30 male and female patients per group. Either side of the ramus was analyzed. The shortest distances from the anterior, posterior, superior and inferior border of the ramus to the mandibular lingula were measured. The shortest distance between the mandibular lingula and the mandibular foramen was also measured. The vertical distance from the mandibular lingula and the mandibular foramen to the occlusal plane was measured. The shapes of the mandibular lingula was classified into 4 types according to the criteria.
The distances of the mandibular lingula from the anteroposterior and vertical reference points of the ramus increased in all directions with age. The distance between the mandibular lingula and the mandibular foramen also increased with age. The location of the mandibular lingula and the mandibular foramen in relation to the occlusal plane moved upwards with age. The most common shape of the mandibular lingula was triangular, followed by nodular, truncated and assimilated, and there was no difference in the shape according to age.
It is recommended that the horizontal insertion point of the anesthesia from the anterior border of the ramus increased to 17 mm, 18 mm, and 19 mm according to the age groups. It is also suggested that the vertical insertion point increased by 2 - 3 mm, 5 - 6 mm and 9 - 10 mm above the occlusal plane according to the age groups.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of virtual reality simulation after experience of dental caries diagnosis for dental students before exposing to clinical pediatric practice. A pediatric patient model of a five-year-old child with primary dentition was developed and a caries model that is amenable to VR(virtual reality) diagnosis was organized and set-up. The dental student’s were allowed to use the simulated model for fifteen minutes and their experiences were evaluated using a self-reported questionnaire to evaluate presence and usability of this application. Overall, virtual presence and appearance area of the simulation were highly scored. The result indicates that the VR model has no significant difference from the actual clinical caries regardless of grade of students, gender and VR experience. If the prototype is continuously advanced, its applicability in dental education will increase.