Abstract
BackgroundAccessory mental foramen (AMF) is a rare anatomical variation. When accessory mental foramen is present, the nerves and vessels that go through the mental foramen (MF) must follow alternative courses and special care must be taken during dental treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and the location of AMF in a selected Polish population using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).MethodsTwo hundred CBCT (105 males and 95 females) examinations were evaluated for the presence of AMFs. The location and side of AMFs were reported. The mean distance between MF and AMF was also calculated. The vertical size of MF on the side with and without AMF was measured. The obtained variables were statistically analyzed.ResultsAMFs were observed in 7% of the patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the appearance of AMF and sex (p > 0.05). We found no significant difference in the vertical size of MF between individuals with and without AMFs (p < 0.05).ConclusionTwenty-eight AMFs (7%) were observed from 400 sides of 200 patients. AMFs occurred more often in males (18 AMFs) than in females (10 AMFs). Twenty AMFs (71.4%) were located anteriorly, and eight (28.6%) - posteriorly. Fifteen AMFs (53.6%) were on the right side and thirteen (46.4%) - on the left.
Highlights
Accessory mental foramen (AMF) is a rare anatomical variation
When AMF is present, the nerves and vessels that go through the mental foramen must follow alternative courses and special care must be taken during dental treatment planning
The cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans were selected according to the following inclusion criteria: visibility of MF, no lesion observed in the apical area of premolars and MF, no bone resorption occurrence
Summary
Accessory mental foramen (AMF) is a rare anatomical variation. When accessory mental foramen is present, the nerves and vessels that go through the mental foramen (MF) must follow alternative courses and special care must be taken during dental treatment planning. The position of the mental foramen is used as a reference point in the anesthetic technique such as the incisive/mental nerve block. The importance of this structure is mainly related to the positioning of dental implants and to other surgical procedures in this region, Accessory mental foramen has a different description in literature. Only those foramina that are integrated with mandibular canal are nominated as AMFs [13,14,15]. The foramen which does not originate in the mandibular canal and its dimensions are relatively small is recognized as a nutrient foramen [16]
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