How to Diagnose Mandibular Canal Enlargement

This is a case series presented by Dr Chong Jun Ai et al. Four patients with enlarged mandibular canals were examined using clinical evaluation, history assessment and different radiological approaches. Dental practitioners and clinicians need to pay much attention to the size of the mandibular canal while treatment planning. In this work, the cases presented were benign tumor, malignancy, radiological errors and artifacts. Patient 1 was a 57-year-old female who had cerebrovascular accident and presented with sudden onset of loss of taste and tongue deviation. Patient 2 was a 60-year-old female with squamous cell carcinoma who presented with left lower lip hypoesthesia. Patient 3 was an 86-year-old male with reduced taste sensation of the left lower lip and tongue. MRI brain was performed and showed that the mandibular canal was of normal configuration. Incidentally, there was T1-hyperintense signal seen at the cortical region of the left frontal lobe and hypointense on T2 representing laminar necrosis. Comparison of the trigeminal nerve bilaterally revealed no asymmetry. Patient 4 was a 34-year-old male with left recurrent pericoronitis.