The increase in the number of surgical procedures in the mandibular region requires a new perspective into anatomical landmarks such as the mandibular canal and its imagenological aspect. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of the alterations in the number of mandibular canals in digital panoramic images obtained from patients of a private radiological center of the Maule region. The study period was from March to December 2008. A total of 350 panoramic digital X-ray images were analyzed by examining them for hemi-mandibles (n = 700) and quantifying the alterations of the number of mandibular canal. There were 35 cases of bifurcations to the mandibular canal, corresponding to 5 % of the sample in the study. The obtained information indicates a major prevalence described by the literature, which reinforces the need of a larger study of the radiographic images of the mandibular canal, considering the difficult managing of a surgical complication on this anatomical structure.