Position of the mandibular foramen in relation to the occlusal plane in children with skeletal class malocclusion

Frequently, practitioners use the inferior alveolar nerve block in the procedures desired on the teeth in the mandible and the surrounding tissues. This study aimed to reveal the position of the mandibular foramen (MF) according to the malocclusion types on panoramic radiographs of children aged 9-18 years living with malocclusion in Turkey. Panoramic and cephalometric radiographs of 330 patients between 9 and 18 years old were analyzed retrospectively. We grouped the skeletal malocclusion types as Class 1, 2, and Class 3 based on lateral cephalometric radiographs and evaluated the location of MF in malocclusion types according to age and gender. We observed that the distances to the occlusal plane, posterior edge, and gonion point increased with age while the distance to the anterior edge decreased. There was a significant difference according to age and gender in all malocclusion types (p<0.05). We determined that the MF was positioned upward parallel to the increase in age and approached the midpoint of the ramus of the mandible from the posterior. The fact that MF is placed higher than the occlusal plane in Class 3 malocclusions compared to other types and differs by gender will guide clinicians in providing effective and safe inferior alveolar nerve block in pediatric malocclusions.