Determining the Size of the Mental Foramen: A Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Study

Abstract

Aim: Knowledge of the position of the mental foramen is important to prepare strategy when administering regional anesthesia, performing dental surgical procedures, endodontic treatments. Also, it is critical to analyze diameter of mental foramen in sagittal, coronal, and axial images.  The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the diameter of the MF in different planes from CBCT images.

Methodology: This study was designed at Department of Endodontics, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey. One hundred twenty three (67 female, 56 male) CBCT scans that met the study criteria were obtained. All images were obtained from i-CAT (Imaging Sciences International, Hatfield, PA). Data were analyzed using Student’s t-tests and Tukey HSD tests.

Results: For the analysis of age, data were divided into four groups: 12–17, 18–29, 30–49, and ≥50 years. The data were also divided into two groups by gender. Axial and coronal image measurements were also divided into right and left. There was a statistical difference compared with females and males (p<0.05). In the coronal plane, the right region showed significant differences in measurements between the groups (p<0.05). In the axial plane, there was no statistically significant difference between them (p>0.05). The differences between the groups in the left region in the axial plane measurements were significant (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Using CBCT imaging superimposition of anatomical structures can be eliminated. It is important that determine that the size of the mental foramen. This study is a retrospective study using CBCT from patient and find that the size of the mental foramen.

How to cite this article: Falakaloglu S, Veis A. Determining the size of the mental foramen: A cone-beam computed tomography study. Int Dent Res 2017;7:20-25.