Study of anatomical variations of mental foramen in dry adult human mandibles and its clinical importance in Karnataka population

Abstract

To provide anatomical information on the position, morphological variations and incidence of mental foramen and accessory mental foramen as they are important for dental surgeons, anaesthetists in nerve block and surgical procedures to avoid injury to the neurovascular bundle in the mental foramen area. Present study was carried out using 120 dried adult human mandibles of unknown sex obtained from the Bone Bank of the Department of Anatomy. Campass asthesio meter was used to measure the shape, location and direction of opening of mental foramen on both sides of mandibles. The results of our study about position shape and size were compared with that of other authors. In our study, the mean distance between the mental foramen and symphysis menti for right side was 23.21 mm±2.12 and for left side was 23.10 mm±2.41. The mean distance between mental foramen and posterior border of ramus of mandible for right side was 62.58 mm±4.23 and for left side was 63.84 mm±4.72. The mean distance between mental foramen and alveolar crest for right side was 15.23 mm±1.12 and for left side was 16.07 mm±1.01. The mean distance between the mental foramen and base of mandible for right side was 15.61 mm±1.03 and for left side was 15.98 mm±1.06.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. The study is also of forensic significance as the position of mental foramen also helps in determination of sex of an individual.