AN INSIGHT INTO A DISAPPEARED MENTAL FORAMEN IN AN EDENTULOUS OLD AGE MANDIBLE

Abstract

In old age the teeth in the alveolar sockets of mandible is lost and is called as edentulous mandible. If the teeth are lost, alveolar bone is resorbed and the mental foramen comes to lie nearer the superior border of the body of the mandible. The objective of this study is to determine the position of mental foramen in an edentulous old age mandible. A total of 50 edentulous old age mandibles were collected from the department of anatomy, RVS dental college and hospital at Coimbatore. The position of mental foramen was observed manually based on the criteria whether the foramen lies close to the alveolar border or on the alveolar ridge. Out of 50 mandibles, 40 mandibles showed the mental foramen lies close to the alveolar border, 9 showed on the alveolar ridge and one mandible showed a unique feature of disappeared mental foramen with exposed mandibular canal. Since the mandibular canal is exposed along the anterior part of the body of the mandible the mental nerve may be covered by the oral mucosa alone. In intraoral procedures, the mental nerve is under high risk of getting impaired since its position lies adjacent to the alveolar crest and hence the knowledge about the position of mental foramen in edentulous mandible is important for Anatomist, Oral Surgeons and Health care professionals.