A CBCT aided assessment for the location of mental foramen and the emergence pattern of mental nerve in different dentition status of the Saudi Arabian population

Objective: The anatomy of mental foramen (MF) is a noteworthy landmark during any surgical procedures in the inter-foraminal region. Thus, the study aims at evaluating the location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN in three status of dentition in Saudi Arabian population. Material and Methods: In a prospective study, we have analyzed 240 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for the location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN. The study comprising three groups, namely dentulous, partially edentulous and edentulous, each having eighty CBCT scans. We presented the data in percentages. The chisquare and McNemar’s test were used for testing association and pair-wise analysis, respectively. Results: The most common location of MF was below the apex of the second premolar irrespective of dentition status, with 54.2% in right and 60% in the left side of the jaw. Among the dentition status, left side of the mandible has shown significant variation for the location of MF, whereas gender and age showed variation in the right side. Anterior loop (AL) (Type-III) the emergence pattern of MN was the highest in all dentition status, with 51.7% in right and 53.8% on the left side. The variation in the emergence pattern of MN in terms of gender and side of the jaw was statistically significant. Conclusion: In the Saudi Arabian population, the apex of second premolar and type III/AL was the most prevalent location of MF and the emergence pattern of MN, respectively.