MORPHOMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF MENTAL FORAMEN IN DRY HUMAN MANDIBLE IN NORTH INDIAN POPULATION

Background: The mental foramen is one of the two holes ("foramina") located on the anterior surface of the mandible. It permits passage of the mental nerve and vessels. The mental foramen descends slightly in edentulous individuals. Methods: The present study was carried out in the department of anatomy on 70 Adult North Indian dry Mandibles of unknown age and sex which were obtained from the osteology section of Integral Institute of Medical Sciences and Research & King George medical university. The Mandibles were observed macroscopically for the presence of mental foramen. Results: In our study we observed that the oval shape of mental foramen was 87.1% on right side and 88.6% on left side. Round mental foramen was observed to be 12.9% on the right side and 11.4% on left side. The Position of Mental foramen in relation to borders left side were found Central (87.1%), upper border (7.1%), lower side (5.7%) and right side Central (85.7%) , upper border (10%) and lower side (4.3%). Conclusions: Knowledge of the mental foramen and it’s variation in different population is essential for dentists, orthopedicians and anatomists. A future prospect of interest lies in their possible contribution to the maxillofacial anthropologic characteristic identification for different population and races.