title: The position of mandibular and mental foramina in Kenyan African mandibles.
abstract: Analysis of 79 adult African mandibles indicated that 64.6% of the mandibular foramina were located below the level of the posterior extension of the occlusal plane while 30.7% were located along this plane. 56.1% of the mental foramina were located below the second premolar while 31.1% were between the second premolar and first molar. The remainder were located between the premolars. The mental foramen opened posterosuperiorly in 72.5% of the surfaces. Multiple mental foramina were found on 4.5% of the mandibles. While emphasising the importance of palpation prior to administration of mental nerve block, these observations suggest that in case of uneffective mandibular nerve block, for a significant proportion of Kenyan Bantus, attempts to place the anaesthetic solution slightly below the occlusal plane be considered.
authors.affiliation: Kenya Medical Research Institute, Medical Research Centre, Nairobi.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Mwaniki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hassanali
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D005006:Ethnicity; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values