Anterior Loop of the Mental Nerve and Its Radiologic Imaging: a Review

Abstract

The mental foramen region is important for dental practise. When
inferior alveolar nerve arises from the mandibular canal, it runs
out ward, upward and backward to open at the mental foramen
then it was called as “anterior loop of mental nerve”. The correct
visualization of anterior loop has an important role for planning of
implant placement in preventing complications like paresthesia
and bleeding. Reliability and precision of the images obtained with
two-dimension conventional methods like periapical or panoramic
radiography are limited when tracing the anterior loop. Cone
beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a succesful method that
provides three-dimensional imaging with low ionized radiation to
image the anterior loop. In this article anterior loop of the mental
nerve and its imaging will be discussed with literature information.

Keywords

• Mental foramen, anterior loop, implant, paresthesia

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