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.
Ameloblastoma ; Aneurysm ; Bone Cysts ; Dentigerous Cyst ; Dentists ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fibroma ; Granuloma, Giant Cell ; Humans ; Mandibular Nerve ; Odontogenic Cysts ; Odontogenic Tumors ; Search Engine

Purpose: The aim of this study was to introduce a category of jaw lesions comprising cysts and tumors associated with scalloped borders. Materials and Methods: General search engines and specialized databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Scopus, as well as an authoritative textbook, were used to find relevant studies by using keywords such as “jaw lesion,” “jaw disease,” “scalloping,” “scalloped border,” “scalloped margin,” “irregular border,” and “irregular margin.” Out of 289 articles, 252 records were removed because they were duplicates, did not have a relevant title, or did not mention the frequency of findings described using the term “scalloped border.” Finally, 37 closely related articles were chosen. Results: According to the relevant literature, scalloped borders are found most frequently in ameloblastoma, followed by simple bone cyst, central giant cell granuloma, odontogenic keratocyst, and glandular odontogenic cyst. Conclusion The lesions most frequently reported to have scalloped borders are ameloblastoma, central giant cell granuloma, odontogenic keratocyst, simple bone cyst, and glandular odontogenic cyst.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the interdental bone level in premolar bitewing radiographs while retracting the cheeks. METHODS: Seventy-two horizontal bone defects were created on dried mandibles and maxillae. The distance from the bone level to the cement-enamel junction of premolars was detected by a modified digital caliper (considered the gold standard). The reliability of all radiographs was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and the validity was compared to the gold standard using the analysis of variance test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: This study showed that the reliability of radiographs without a cheek simulator and with 0.16 second exposure time was significantly higher than that of the two other groups (ICC=0.96 compared to 0.93 and 0.88, respectively). The results from the radiographs without a cheek simulator and with 0.16 second exposure time were more similar to the gold standard measures than those of the two other groups, although the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Retracting the buccal soft tissue plays an important role in increasing the accuracy of radiographs in detecting the interdental alveolar bone level and produces more accurate results than increasing the exposure time, although it does not have a significant role in reliability of results.
Alveolar Bone Loss ; Bicuspid* ; Cheek ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Radiography, Bitewing ; Reproducibility of Results

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to review the common conditions associated with mandibular canal widening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: General search engines and specialized databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct, and Scopus were used to find relevant studies by using the following keywords: “mandibular canal,” “alveolar canal,” “inferior alveolar nerve canal,” “inferior dental canal,” “inferior mandibular canal,” “widening,” “enlargement,” “distension,” “expansion,” and “dilation.” RESULTS: In total, 130 articles were found, of which 80 were broadly relevant to the topic. We ultimately included 38 articles that were closely related to the topic of interest. When the data were compiled, the following 7 lesions were found to have a relationship with mandibular canal widening: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, osteosarcoma, schwannoma, neurofibroma, vascular malformation/hemangioma, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes, and perineural spreading or invasion. CONCLUSION: When clinicians encounter a lesion associated with mandibular canal widening, they should immediately consider these entities in the differential diagnosis. Doing so will help dentists make more accurate diagnoses and develop better treatment plans based on patients' radiographs.
Dentists ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Mandibular Nerve ; Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibroma ; Odontogenic Cysts ; Odontogenic Tumors ; Osteosarcoma ; Search Engine

Purpose: Dental implants are widely used for the rehabilitation of edentulous sites. This study investigated the occurrence of dental implant malpositioning as shown on post-implantation cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and to identify related factors. Materials and Methods: Samples with at least 1 malpositioned dental implant were collected from a central radiology clinic in Tehran, Iran from January 2017 to January 2019. Variables such as demographic characteristics, length and diameter of implants, type of implant, sites of implant insertion, different types of implant malpositioning problems (cortical plate perforation, interference with anatomical structures), angulation of the implant, and the severity of malpositioning were assessed. In addition, the incidence of implant fracture and over-drilling was evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed using the chi-square test, 1-sample t-test, and Spearman correlation coefficients. Results: In total, 252 patients referred for implant postoperative CBCT evaluations were assessed. The cases of implant malpositioning included perforation of the buccal cortical plate (19.4%), perforation of the lingual cortical plate (14.3%), implant proximity to an adjacent implant (19.0%), implant proximity to an adjacent tooth (3.2%), interference with anatomical structures (maxillary sinus: 18.3%, mandibular canal: 11.1%, nasal cavity: 6.3%, mental foramen: 5.6%, and incisive canal: 0.4%). Implant fracture and over-drilling were found in 1.6% and 0.8% of cases, respectively. Severity was categorized as mild (9.5%), moderate (35.7%), severe (37.7%), and extreme (17.1%), and 52.4% of implants had inappropriate angulation. Conclusion CBCT imaging is recommended for detecting dental implant malpositioning. The most common and severe type of malpositioning was buccal cortex perforation.

Purpose: The mastoid region is ideal for studying sexual dimorphism due to its anatomical position at the base of the skull. This study aimed to determine sex in the Iranian population based on measurements of the mastoid process using different data mining algorithms. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 190 3-dimensional cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) images of 105 women and 85 men between the ages of 18 and 70 years. On each CBCT scan, the following 9 landmarks were measured: the distance between the porion and the mastoidale; the mastoid length, height, and width; the distance between the mastoidale and the mastoid incision; the intermastoid distance (IMD); the distance between the lowest point of the mastoid triangle and the most prominent convex surface of the mastoid (MF); the distance between the most prominent convex mastoid point (IMSLD); and the intersecting angle drawn from the most prominent right and left mastoid point (MMCA). Several predictive models were constructed and their accuracy was compared using cross-validation. Results: The results of the t-test revealed a statistically significant difference between the sexes in all variables except MF and MMCA. The random forest model, with an accuracy of 97.0%, had the best performance in predicting sex. The IMSLD and IMD made the largest contributions to predicting sex, while the MMCA variable had the least significant role. Conclusion These results show the possibility of developing an accurate tool using data mining algorithms for sex determination in the forensic framework.