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

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.