Objective: To evaluate different shapes of lingula and anti-lingula and their relative positions with respect to different fixed landmarks of the mandible. Materials and Methods: A total of forty cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan images of the mandible were included in this cross-sectional study. The shape of the lingula was analyzed and classified into four types. The locations of the lingula and anti-lingula were evaluated from various fixed landmarks by measuring the distance from the mandibular foramen to the anterior and posterior border of the ramus, mandibular notch, and angle of the mandible. The vertical distance from the lingula to the center of the mandibular foramen was measured as the height of the lingula. Descriptive statistics were used. The side- and gender-wise differences in the position of lingula and anti-ligula were evaluated by using the t -test. The P value of 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. Results: The nodular shape was the commonest shape of the lingula. The height of the lingula was 6.94 ± 2.42 mm. The position of the lingula was 16.20 ± 2.21 mm posterior to the anterior border of the mandibular ramus, 13.35 ± 2.76 mm anterior to the posterior border of the ramus, 20.32 ± 3.78 mm inferior to the mandibular notch and 20.52 ± 3.77 mm anterosuperior to mandibular angle. The anti-lingula was located 2.8 ± 1.2 mm posterior and 1.80 ± 0.30 mm superior to the lingula, and 1.60 ± 0.20 mm posterior and 4.80 ± 1.30 mm superior to the mandibular foramen. Conclusion: The nodular type of lingula was the most common shape. The position of the anti-lingula was posterior and superior to the lingula.
Ahmed et al. (Thu,) studied this question.