Morphometric Localization of Mandibular Foramen with Reference to Various Anatomical Landmarks in Dry Human Mandibles and its Clinical Implications

The position of mandibular foramen (MF) is an important anatomical landmark for effective anesthesia in dentistry for many procedures, including dental extraction from the lower jaw and putting mandibular implants. Several causes have been examined in this context, and the uncertainty in the location of the MF has been examined to be a major factor for the high failure rate of anesthesia and complications of the orthodontic procedure. The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze the position of the MF relative to various anatomical landmarks. The different parameters were measured in 55 dry human mandibles. The data were tabulated and statistically analyzed. The mean distance between the MF and the respective landmarks was noted and they are 16.00 ± 3.50 mm for the anterior border, 10.21 ± 2.34 mm for the posterior border, 20.48 ± 3.89 mm for the superior border, 24.15 ± 4.97 mm for the inferior border, 33.46 ± 6.08 mm for the condyle, and 12.31 ± 4.88 mm for the internal oblique ridge for the right side. On the left side, these distances were 16.27 ± 3.9 for the anterior border, 10.28 ± 5.24 for the posterior border, 20.15 ± 3.8 for superior border, 24.86 ± 4.04 for inferior border 32.48 ± 4.73 for condyle, and 10.93 ± 4.06 for the inferior oblique ridge. The precise localization of mandibular foramen is very important to achieve a successful inferior alveolar nerve block, prior to dental surgeries in the lower jaw like osteotomy, orthognathic reconstruction surgeries of the mandible and dental implant procedures, and also to avoid injury to the neurovascular contents passing through it.