title: Unilateral Absence of Mental Foramen with Surgical Exploration in a Living Human Subject.
abstract: The mental foramen (MF) is an important anatomic landmark of the mandible, in which the somatic afferent sensory nerve of the mandibular nerve emerges as mental nerve and blood vessels. The identification and actual location of MF are important in order to avoid sensory dysfunction or paresthesia due to mental nerve injury. In the literature there are some rare reports on the anatomical variations of the MF such as its location or presence of accessory foramina. The present report describes the absence of mental foramina on the left side of the mandible, as detected by cone-beam computed tomography before impacted tooth removal and observed directly during surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, 35640 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, 35640 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tarim Ertas
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, 35640 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gunhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, 35640 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yircali Atici
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, 35640 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akcay