title: Prevalence of bifid mandibular canals in panoramic radiographs: a maxillofacial surgical scope.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of bifid mandibular canals in patients treated at the Dental Clinic of the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 3,024 panoramic radiographs from male (n = 1,155) and female (n = 1,869) patients (mean age 30 years). An experienced radiologist analyzed the panoramic radiographs according to the study of Langlais et al. (J Am Dental Assoc 110:923-926, 1985), which classifies bifid mandibular canals into four different types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty patients (1.98 %) presented bifid mandibular canals. Specifically, 50 patients revealed bifid mandibular canals type I, while 10 patients revealed bifid mandibular canals type II. All the variations were unilateral. In addition, statistically significant results were not observed for gender distribution.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings indicate a low prevalence of morphologic alterations of the mandibular canal in the studied population. However, the present outcome highlights the clinical relevance of investigating the radiologic morphology of the mandibular canal prior to surgical interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Federal University of Paraná, Av. Prefeito Lothário Meissner, 632 Jardim Botânico, Curitiba, Paraná, 80210-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuczynski
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kucharski
authors.forename: Ademir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Fernando Henrique
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Westphalen
authors.forename: Antonio Adilson Soares
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015995:Prevalence; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic
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