Foramen mandibulae as an indicator of successful conduction anesthesia

Comparative measurements were made of 144 orthopantomographs in 50 patients with successful and 94 patients with unsuccessful inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia. The results show that the bony lingula is prominent in 28 .5% of all patients, or in 56.0% of those with unsuccessful anesthesia. The variables mandibular notch us. mandibular foramen (MN-MF) and the anterior ramus ridge vs. mandibular foramen (ARR-MF) show greater distances in the group of patients with successful anesthesia, while the variables of poster ior ramus ridge vs. mandibular foramen (PRR-MF) and mandibular angle vs, ma ndibular foramen (MA-MF) were greater in the group of patients with unsucce ssful anesthesia (p > 0.05). It is concluded that the variability in positi on of the mandibular foramen among others may be responsible for an occasio nal failure of inferior alveolar nerve block.