How to avoid iatrogenic lingual nerve injury in the retromolar area: an anatomical study of retromolar pad and lingual nerve.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the retromolar gland and pad, and the relationship between the LN and retromolar gland/pad to establish a new landmark for avoiding LN injury.

Methods: Sixty-two lingual nerves from fresh-frozen cadavers were used for this study. The age of the specimens at the time of death ranged from 57 to 98 with a mean of 76.