Morphological and Morphometric Analysis of Mental Foramen in Dry Human Mandibles

Background: The position and its morphological variations of Mental Foramen are very important because it will be helpful to localize the important maxillofacial neurovascular bundle passing through. It is landmark to facilitate surgical, local anaesthetic and other invasive procedures for dental surgeons performing peri-apical surgery in the mental region of mandible. Aims & Objective: To Study morphological and morphometric analysis of mental foramen in dry human mandibles. Material and Methods: 50 dried adult human mandibles with complete dentition and intact alveolar margin of unknown sex were used for this study. The shape of MF observed was either oval or rounded. The morphometric measurements which were recorded using Vernier callipers. Results: The most commonly present position of the MF as related to the lower set of teeth was in line with the second premolar, i.e. Type 4 (64.7 % cases on the right and 66.7 % cases on the left side). Next common position was Type 3, i.e. between the premolars (21.6% on right and 19.6% on the left sides. The mean distance between symphysis mentii and anterior margin of MF was 23.3 mm and 22.5 mm, on the right and left sides respectively. Mean distance between posterior margin of MF and posterior border of ramus was 61.3 mm on the right side and 62.5 mm on the left side. Conclusion: The present study reveals valuable insights on the information concerning the morphology of mental foramen in various populations and races. The knowledge of the distances from surgically encountered anatomical landmarks in the present study provide valuable information to dental surgeons that will facilitate effective localization of the neurovascular bundle passing through mental foramen thus avoiding complications from local anaesthetic, surgical and other invasive procedures. KEY-WORDS: Mental Foramen; Human Mandible; Morphometric; Morphological; Measurements