title: Determination of the position of mental foramen and frequency of anterior loop in Saudi population. A retrospective CBCT study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the position of mental foramen (MF) and frequency of anterior loop (AL) using dental cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved the evaluation of 302 CBCT scans (196 males, 106 females). The position of MF was determined with respect to adjacent teeth, nearest root apex of adjacent teeth and mandibular borders. MF position was also assessed based on gender and age. In addition, prevalence of anterior loop was evaluated by categorizing the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) patterns into linear, perpendicular and anterior looping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study revealed that the most common position of MF was below the apex of 2nd premolar accounting for a total of 52.8% of scans whereas, only 29.6% observed MF between 1st and 2nd premolar (p> 0.05). 38.7% of MF were located at a distance of 1-3 mm from the nearest root apex (2nd premolar), followed by a distance of less than 1 mm in 17.05 of cases. 63.2% of foramen on left side of the mandible were observed below the apex of 2nd premolar in females (p= 0.023). Statistically significant findings were observed with regards to position of MF in different age groups (p< 0.05). The most common IAC pattern observed was linear in nature which accounted for 46.2% of cases followed by perpendicular pattern (38.6%). AL was found only in 15.2% of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our sample population most commonly exhibited MF below the apex of 2nd premolar with linear IAC pattern. AL was regarded as the least common pattern in Saudi population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, P. O. Box 1982, Dammam 31411, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Mahalawy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, P. O. Box 1982, Dammam 31411, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Aithan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, P. O. Box 1982, Dammam 31411, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Kari
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, P. O. Box 1982, Dammam 31411, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Jandan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, P. O. Box 1982, Dammam 31411, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shujaat
keywords: Anterior loop; CBCT​; Inferior alveolar canal; Mental foramen; Position; Radiographic