Morphology and morphometric analysis of mental foramen in south Indian population – A CBCT study

It is essential to define the exact location of the mental foramen to avoid potential injury to the neurovascular bundle during surgical procedures in the mandibular interforaminal region. This radiographic study was aimed to evaluate the morphology and morphometric dimensions of mental foramen (MF) among Indian population. This study also investigated the dimorphic variations of mental foramen with respect to gender and laterality. The images of 80 subjects( 160 mandibular sites) with the age range of 20 to 60 years who had undergone cone beam computed tomographic (CBCT) were retrieved from the archives and examined for morphology and morphometry of mental foramen. Oval shaped mental foramen was one and a half times greater than round shape, which was predominant in females. Position 4 was the most common location on right and left side respectively. Type I and type III were the most common radiographic appearance of mental foramen on right and left side respectively. The mean mesiodistal, superoinferior and buccolingual dimensions of MF were 2.49 ± 0.86 mm, 2.83 ± 0.73 mm and 2.44 ± 0.72 mm respectively. The mean dimensions of the mental foramen were significantly higher among the males when compared to females. The mental foramen was positioned at an average of 11.13 ± 3.40 mm from the alveolar crest (MF-C) on the right side and was positioned at 10.79 ± 3.21 mm on the left side. The distance of the mental foramen from the alveolar crest was significantly higher among the Group I when compared to Group IV. The morphology of the mental foramen did not show any variations among the gender and age in the Indian population. The morphometric values of the mental foramen showed variability of 1-2 mm among different subjects of our population.