DISTAL LOWER MOLAR REGION, RETROMOLAR REGION AND RETROMOLAR CANAL: ANATOMICAL AND SURGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The mandibular retro-dental trigone, a region laying right behind the third or second lower molar, is a rather small anatomical area, where genetic-driven and epigenetic events do actually combine to determine skull and mandibular development in a wide number of mammal species. Here we describe some areas, comprised in the retro dental region, that clearly appeared to us as being separate from one another, yet also partially overlapping. We suggest that the “DALM” (distal area of lower molar) term should be preferred as referring to an area that would include both the retromandibular fossa and the mandibular retro dental (or retromolar) trigone (RMT). We justify this choice given the number of anatomical variants described in literature involving bony parts as well as vascular and nervous structures in this area. RMT, with its “retromolar pad”, is strongly involved in oral mucosa pathologies as precancerous diseases, neoplasms, and molar inclusion-related abscesses.