There are no available detailed data on the three-dimensional courses of the human superior alveolar nerves and vessels. This study aimed to clarify the relationships of the maxillary sinus with the superior alveolar nerves and vessels using cone-beam computed tomography (CT) combined with μ-CT and histological analyses. Digital imaging and communication in medicine data obtained from the scanned heads/maxillae of cadavers used for undergraduate/postgraduate dissection practice and skulls using cone-beam CT were reconstructed into three-dimensional (3D) images using software. The 3D images were compared with μ-CT images and histological sections. Cone-beam CT clarified the relationships of the maxillary sinus with the superior alveolar canals/grooves. The main anterior superior alveolar canal/groove ran anteriorly through the upper part of the sinus and terminated at the bottom of the nasal cavity near the piriform aperture. The main middle alveolar canal ran downward from the upper part of the sinus to ultimately join the anterior one. The main posterior alveolar canal ran through the lateral lower part of the sinus and communicated with the anterior one. Histological analyses demonstrated the existence of nerves and vessels in these canals/grooves, and the quantities of these structures varied across each canal/groove. Furthermore, the superior dental nerve plexus exhibited a network that was located horizontally to the occlusal plane, although these nerve plexuses appeared to be the vertical network that is described in most textbooks. In conclusion, cone-beam CT is suggested to be a useful method for clarifying the superior alveolar canals/grooves including the nerves and vessels.
Keywords: cadaver; cone-beam computed tomography; maxillary artery; maxillary nerve; maxillary sinus.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.