Title

Exploring mandibular canal variations using CBCT: A study on clinical relevance and risk assessment

Authors

Rahul Srivastava^1,*, Hadi Raza², Devina Pradhan³, Saquib Khan⁴, Lokesh Sharma⁵ & Jahnabi Kakoti⁶

Affiliation

¹Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, Rama Dental College Hospital & Research Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; ²Department of Public Health Dentistry, Clinician Dent-O-Facial Centre, Purnea, Bihar, India; ³Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rama Dental College Hospital & Research Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; ⁴Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, Mithila Minorty Dental College, Darbhanga, Bihar, India; ⁵Department of Public Health Dentistry, Maharana Pratap Dental College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; ⁶Clinician, 11 Dental Cares and Aesthetic Centre, Garchuk, Guwahati, Assam, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Rahul Srivastava - E-mail: drrahul_osmf@yahoo.com
Hadi Raza - E-mail: hadi.raza007@gmail.com
Devina Pradhan - E-mail: drdevinapradhan.rdc@ramauniversity.ac.in
Saquib Khan - E-mail: saquibiqbalk413@gmail.com
Lokesh Sharma - E-mail: drlokesh.mpdc@gmail.com
Jahnabi Kakoti - E-mail: kakotijahnabi@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received November 15, 2025; Revised December 15, 2025; Accepted December 15, 2025, Published December 15, 2025

Abstract

Anatomical variations of the mandibular canal, including bifid canals and anterior loops, can increase the risk of complications during oral surgical procedures. Traditional radiographic methods often fail to detect these variants accurately, whereas cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) provides superior visualization. Therefore, it is of interest to describe the prevalence of these variations using CBCT. Hence, a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 200 CBCT scans (patients aged 18–70 years) was conducted to assess bifid, trifid, retromolar canals, anterior loops and accessory branches in axial, sagittal and coronal planes. Data shows that anatomical variations were present in 29% of cases, with bifid canals most common (18%) followed by anterior loops (11%), indicating that CBCT allows reliable identification of clinically significant mandibular canal variations.

Keywords

Mandibular canal, CBCT, bifid canals, inferior alveolar nerve, anatomical variations

Citation

Srivastava et al. Bioinformation 21(12): 4314-4317 (2025)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.