Study of mandibular foramen from different bony landmarks in dry human mandibles

Abstract

Mandibular foramen is an irregular foramen located just above the center of the medial surface of the ramus of the mandible. Mandibular foramen is leading to mandibular canal through which inferior alveolar nerve and vessels will transmit and supply the teeth of lower jaw.1 The inferior alveolar nerve block is the commonest local anesthetic technique which is used for anaesthetizing the lower jaw in various surgical & dental operations on the mandible and mandibular teeth such as removal of impaction, reductions of fractures and extraction of teeth. The success of this technique highly depends on the proximity of the needle tip to the MF at the time of the anesthetic injection. The aim of the study was to find exact location of mandibular foramen from different anatomical landmark. In present study we took 60 dry human mandibles & all the distances were measured from center of mandible to different landmark on both sides. The mean of MF-AB distance on right side is 15.6mm & on left side is 15.3mm. Mean of MF-PB distance are 12.0mm & 11.0mm on right side and left side respectively. MF-MB distance 23.4 mm and 22.9 mm are the mean of MF-MN on right and left side respectively. The mean of MF-AG is 23.2mm on right side & 24.2mm on left side. There is great variation found in the position of MF in previous studies. The present study helps in dental anaesthesia and also would help dental surgeons to avoid complications. Keywords: Mandibular foramen, Landmark, Inferior alveolar nerve distance.