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Today on Enamel Pearls, weÕre going to show you how to use software to find your mental
foramen and your inferior alveolar nerve.
In todayÕs implantology, it is critical that you know right where that anatomy is when
youÕre drilling into the posterior mandible. Luckily, we have excellent software that can
use your CT scan to zero-in on your artery, your nerve, the mental foramen, before you
drill. LetÕs go to the software from Carestream.
Today, weÕll be using CarestreamÕs Cone Beam interpretation software to evaluate the
mental foramen and the inferior alveolar nerve, on a lower right focused field scan from the
Kodak 9000 3D. HereÕs how easy it is. First, adjust the arched line until some of the mandibular
canal is visible. In the transaxial view, find the mental foramen. I like to trace the
nerve from the angle of the mandible to the mental foramen, but you can do it from either
direction. Once you see the mandibular canal in the scan, click and drop connected points
to create a map of the nerve. Then re-trace the mapped nerve through the axial slices
and adjust the nerve position until itÕs accurate. If the standard diameter nerve is
too large or too small, then you can change the setting to a variety of nerve diameters
and colors in the nerve tool.
Now that we have an accurate map of the nerve position, we can measure alveolar dimensions
and place a digital implant. Knowing where the nerve is, makes for peace of mind in placing
implants in the posterior mandible.
For more tips and how-toÕs, go to YouTube and find us at Enamel Pearls.