Incidence of the anatomical variations of mental foramen in human mandibles of a brazilian sample

Abstract

Introduction: To evaluate the incidence of accessory and double mental foramina in human mandibles from a Brazilian sample. Material and Methods: 100 dried human mandibles (29 females and 71 males) were analyzed, aged 18 to 60 years. The mandibles were evaluated on their right and left sides. The foramens were evaluated being accessory mental foramen or double mental foramen. All data were analyzed using the GraphPAD Prism v.8 software (San Diego, CA, USA). Descriptive statistics (in %) and the chi-square test (χ2) were performed to compare the incidence of each foramen between the sexes and the sides. The probability value ≤ 0.05 was defined as the level of significance. Results: Of the 71 male mandibles, the incidence was 16.9% for the accessory mental foramen, and 22.53% for the double mental foramen. Of the 29 female mandibles, the incidence was 10.34% for the accessory mental foramen, and 24.13% for the double mental foramen. There were 12% of the accessory mental foramen on the right side and 3% on the left side. And 11% of the double mental foramen on the right side and 12% on the left side. The chi-square test revealed that there was no statistically significant difference for both sex (P value: 0.7066) and for the side (P value: 0.0818). Conclusion: The incidence of accessory and double mental foramen in the studied sample must be considered given the importance of knowledge of the anatomy of these foramina during the execution of anaesthetic and surgical procedures in Dentistry.