Digital Radiography of Mental Foramen and Inferior Alveolar Canal – A Beacon for Gender Determination

Abstract

Introduction:The mandible is the strongest bone in the human body and persists in a well-preserved state longer than any other bone. One of the mandibular characteristics that can prove very helpful for age and gender determination is mental foramen and mandibular canal. Aim: The present study was aimed to determine and compare the radiographic position of mental foramen and shape of the inferior mandibular canal in males and females. Materials and Methods: One hundred and ninety-six panoramic radiographs were randomly selected for the analysis of mental foramen and inferior alveolar canal. The radiographs were digitalized and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (21). P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The average values of superior border of the mental foramen to the lower border of the mandible (LBM) and inferior border of mental foramen to the LBM were more in males as compared to females. P-value was significant for both the genders and for both the sides. In the present study, the most frequent position of the mental foramen was in the longitudinal axis of the second premolars and was located symmetrically. It was not significant for both males and females. The inter-mental foramen distance showed a mean of 32.15 mm for males and 27.8 mm for females, which was not significant for both males and females. Shapes of the inferior alveolar canal were not significant for both the genders. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, the distances from the mental foramen and inferior border of the mandible and the shape of the mandibular canal exhibit sexual dimorphism.