The assessment of accessory mental foramen in a selected polish population: a CBCT study

BACKGROUND: Accessory mental foramen (AMF) is a rare anatomical variation. When accessory mental foramen is present, the nerves and vessels that go through the mental foramen (MF) must follow alternative courses and special care must be taken during dental treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and the location of AMF in a selected Polish population using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: Two hundred CBCT (105 males and 95 females) examinations were evaluated for the presence of AMFs. The location and side of AMFs were reported. The mean distance between MF and AMF was also calculated. The vertical size of MF on the side with and without AMF was measured. The obtained variables were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: AMFs were observed in 7% of the patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the appearance of AMF and sex (p > 0.05). We found no significant difference in the vertical size of MF between individuals with and without AMFs (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Twenty-eight AMFs (7%) were observed from 400 sides of 200 patients. AMFs occurred more often in males (18 AMFs) than in females (10 AMFs). Twenty AMFs (71.4%) were located anteriorly, and eight (28.6%) - posteriorly. Fifteen AMFs (53.6%) were on the right side and thirteen (46.4%) - on the left.