A CBCT aided assessment for the location of mental foramen and the emergence pattern of mental nerve in different dentition status of the Saudi Arabian population

Kumar Chandan Srivastava

doi:10.14295/bds.2021.v24i1.2372

Abstract

Objective: The anatomy of mental foramen (MF) is a noteworthy landmark during any surgical procedures in the inter-foraminal region. Thus, the study aims at evaluating the location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN in three status of dentition in Saudi Arabian population. Material and Methods: In a prospective study, we have analyzed 240 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for the location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN. The study comprising three groups, namely dentulous, partially edentulous and edentulous, each having eighty CBCT scans. We presented the data in percentages. The chisquare and McNemar’s test were used for testing association and pair-wise analysis, respectively. Results: The most common location of MF was below the apex of the second premolar irrespective of dentition status, with 54.2% in right and 60% in the left side of the jaw. Among the dentition status, left side of the mandible has shown significant variation for the location of MF, whereas gender and age showed variation in the right side. Anterior loop (AL) (Type-III) the emergence pattern of MN was the highest in all dentition status, with 51.7% in right and 53.8% on the left side. The variation in the emergence pattern of MN in terms of gender and side of the jaw was statistically significant. Conclusion: In the Saudi Arabian population, the apex of second premolar and type III/AL was the most prevalent location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN, respectively. KEYWORDS Anterior loop; Cone beam CT; Mandible; Mental foramen; Mental nerve.

Highlights

The mental foramen (MF) is an essential anatomical landmark in the mandible through which the terminal branch of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN), known as mental nerve (MN) and vessels take an exit
Having knowledge about MF’s position and the emergence pattern of MN is of paramount importance in various surgical procedures
We identified the position of MF and the emergence pattern of MN through the MF by using Tebo and Telford classification [22] and solar et al [17] respectively

Summary

Introduction

The mental foramen (MF) is an essential anatomical landmark in the mandible through which the terminal branch of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN), known as mental nerve (MN) and vessels take an exit. Having knowledge about MF’s position and the emergence pattern of MN is of paramount importance in various surgical procedures. The risk of damaging the MN during various oral surgical procedures, including genioplasty, orthognathic surgery, removal of cyst and tumors and placement of dental implants (DI) are relatively high [1,2]. The mandible is a constantly growing structure, and they reported that the MF changes its location with age [3]. In elderly individuals because of the atrophic mandible the MF shifts superiorly whereas in children, its position is relatively inferior to the elder age group, towards the lower border of mandible [4]. Its difference concerning ethnic race is a significant factor and should consider it during the pre-surgical planning phase, and during clinical procedures [12,13,14,15,16]

Methods

Results

Conclusion