Morphological and Morphometric Study of Mental foramen South Indian Mandibles

The mental foramen is a funnel like opening located on the anterolateral aspect of the mandible, which marks the termination of the mandibular canal, mental nerve and vessels exits through it. The mental foramen is an important landmark to facilitate diagnostic , surgical local anesthetic and other invasive procedures of the oral and maxillofacial region. Totally 70 mandibles were used for this study. It was found that, the mean transverse diameter was 3.19 ± 0.82mm and the mean longitudinal diameter 2.50 ± 0.61mm. The location of mental foramen was found 72.43% in line with the longitudinal axis of the second molar teeth, 13.57% was present in between first and second molar teeth. In relation with location the mean distance between sympysis menti and foramen was 26.62 ± 4.89mm on right side and left side it was 26.40 ± 4.32mm. The mean distance between mental foramen and alveolar margin was 13.80 ± 3.56mm on right side and 13.21 ± 3.75mm on left. The mean distance between mental foramen and lower border of mandible was 12.40 ± 2.70mm on right side and 12.21 ± 2.89mm on left. The shape of foramen was oval in 65%. The knowledge of mental foramen is very important for blockage of mental nerve.