Glossary

The inferior alveolar nerve (wide dashed yellow line) courses through the mandible, providing sensation to the teeth. A branch of it loops backward (the "anterior loop") and emerges from the jaw bone as the mental nerve (solid yellow) through the "mental foramen", a hole near the root tips of the lower bicuspid teeth. A small terminal branch of the inferior alveolar nerve called the incisive nerve continues on in the mandible to provide sensation to the canines and incisor teeth. An anatomical variation of the incisive nerve does exist. In some people, it exits the mandible through the mental foramen and continues anteriorly outside of the jawbone before re-entering the jaw at a "mental incisive" foramen and innervating the anterior teeth.