Eur J Anat, 16 (1): 22-26 (2012)

Morphology and morphometry of the mental foramen in dry adult human mandibles from central India and their clinical correlation

Rakhi Rastogi¹, Virendra Budhiraja¹, D.K. Sathpathi², Sandeep Singh², Kranti Kumar Gour¹, Shema Nair¹

¹Department of Anatomy, L.N. Medical College, Bhopal, M.P., India ²Department of Forensic Medicine, L.N. Medical College, Bhopal, M.P., India

ABSTRACT The mental foramen (MF) is a small foramensituated on the antero-lateral aspect of thebody of the mandible. It is an importantanatomical landmark to facilitate surgical,local anesthetic and other invasive procedures.Studying the position and its morphologicalvariations help to localize the mental nerveand thus prevent complications during surgicalprocedures. The present study was carriedout on 87 dry adult human mandiblesobtained from Department of Anatomy andForensic Medicine of L.N. Medical College, Bhopal, India. In 51.7 % cases the foramen was round in shape while in 48.3% cases it was oval. The most common position observed was on the longitudinal axis of the 2nd premolar tooth (52.8 % on right side and 54% on left side). The mean distance from symphysis menti to the medial margin of mandibular foramen was 26.08 mm (SD±0.66) and 26.15 mm (SD±0.64) on the right and left side respectively. The mean distance from the posterior margin of the mental foramen to the posterior border of the ramus of the mandible was 66.18 mm (SD±0.79) and 66.27 mm (SD±0.80) on the right and left side respectively. The mean distance from the alveolar crest to the upper margin of the mental foramen was 10.67 mm (SD±0.21) and 10.71 mm (SD±0.18) on the right and left side respectively, and the mean distance from the lower border of the mandible to the lower margin of the mental foramen was 14.59 mm (SD±0.23) and 14.64 mm (SD±0.20) on the right and left side respectively.

Keywords: Anatomical variations, Morphology, Morphometry, Mental Foramen