title: Horizontal migration of pre- and postnatal mental foramen: an anatomic study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the horizontal migration of the human mental foramen before and after birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  54 formalin-fixed fetuses between 17 and 32 weeks of gestation, and 94 panoramic radiographs of children aged between 4 and 12 years were investigated. The distances between the mental foramen and mental symphysis, and the distances between the posterior border of the mandibular ramus and mental foramen were determined according to development periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results confirm that the mental foramen moves in a posterior direction during the development of the mandible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The horizontal location of the pre- and postnatal mental foramen changes in a posterior direction as the development progresses, however, prenatal mental foramen features an irregular behavior, while the postnatal mental foramen gradually migrates posteriorly in a regular pattern.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Anatomy, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, Capa, 34390 Istanbul, Turkey. habalci@istanbul.edu.tr
authors.forename: Huseyin Avni
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Balcioglu
authors.forename: Cenk
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akyol
authors.forename: Ayca Tuba
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Ulusoy
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002102:Cadaver; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004210:Dissection; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000196:embryology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity