Morphometric analysis of mental foramen in retained cadaveric specimens of mandibles of Sri Lankan population.

Abstract

Understanding the variation of the location of the mental foramen in the mandible will aid in the prevention of injury to associated structures during invasive procedures in the mental area. This study was carried out using 228 mental foramina in 114 dry mandibles belonging to the adult Sri Lankan population of the southern region of Sri Lanka to determine the shape, size, direction, existence of accessory foramina, and location with respect to anatomical landmarks. A single mental foramen was the most common in Sri Lankan adults, and 7% of them had accessory mental foramen on either side. The most common characteristic of the mental foramen was an oval shape, located below the 2nd premolar tooth in the posterior-superior direction. The mean distance from the mandibular midline to the mental foramen was 25.98 ± 1.9 mm and 25.64 ± 2.02 mm on the right and left sides, respectively. This study offers substantial data about possible variations in physical characteristics and the location of the mental foramen in a population in the southern region of Sri Lanka. Hence, it is possible to use the relative position of teeth or distances from various borders of the mandible to precisely locate the mental foramen. Therefore, this information is crucial for clinicians, who must be aware of these variances and the necessity of determining the precise location of the mental foramen before doing surgery in this region.