Altered Position of the Medial Lingual Nutritional Foramina at Different Stages of Alveolar Ridge Atrophy
To determine the altered location of the medial lingual nutritional foramina in different stages of bone resorption, 55 cadaveric mandibles were selected for this study from a total of 1532. Prevalence, location of the foramen (lingual, cranial, labial), application of Atwood classification (grades 1–6), and macroanatomic dissections were tools of this examination. An increasing grade of atrophy leads to a shift in position of the medial lingual nutritional foramen.
Figure 1. Branches of the medial and lateral interalveolar arteries demonstrated with their bony entrance on a wet specimen. Figure 2. Cross sectional view representing the investigated variables a–f.
Figure 3. Changing position of the medial lingual nutritional foramen (lingual/cranial/labial) in regard to the Atwood classification class 1–6. Figure 4. The distance from the labial border to the medial lingual nutritional foramen increases from lingual to labial. Figure 5. The height decreases from the caudal border to the medial lingual nutritional foramen from lingual to labial. Figure 6. Mean values for each single Atwood class for the distance between the lingual border and the medial lingual nutritional foramen. Figure 7. Mean values for each single Atwood class for the distance between the caudal border and medial lingual nutritional foramen.
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