Francisco Javier Gutiérrez-Cantú; Alfredo Salazar-de Santiago; Ricardo Oliva-Rodríguez; Jairo Mariel-Cárdenas; José Obed García-Cortez

The mental foramen, an opening at the bottom of the jaw, is the exit of the inferior alveolar nerve branch, providing sensation to the jawbone and skin of the chin. Its anatomical variability is important in dental and surgical procedures. Our study was carried out in San Luis Potosí, Mexico and examined the position and morphological characteristics of the mental foramen in a sample of lower jaw CT scans. In women, the area between the first and second premolar was the most common, while in men, it was the same area but with a greater prevalence on the left side. Differences in the direction of the mental foramen were observed between sexes and sides of the mandible, with the posterior direction predominating in both sexes. These findings are consistent with previous studies in different populations, although significant variations in the prevalence and specific location of the foramen are identified. The comparison with other studies highlights the importance of considering ethnic and geographic factors in the interpretation of results. The anatomical differences observed have important clinical implications for dental and surgical procedures, underscoring the need for approaches tailored to the specific population to improve precision and safety of interventions in the mental foramen area.

KEY WORDS: Mental Foramen; Cone-beam Computed Tomography.

GUTIÉRREZ-CANTÚ, F. J.; SALAZAR-DE SANTIAGO, A.; OLIVA-RODRÍGUEZ, R.; MARIEL-CÁRDENAS, J. & GARCÍA-CORTEZ, J. O. Morphological location of the mental foramen with cone-beam computed tomography in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Int. J. Morphol., 42(4):911-917, 2024.