CHANGES IN THE POSITION OF THE MENTAL FORAMEN AS A RESULT OF ALVEOLARATROPHY

The location of the mental foramen has often been claimed to be unaffe cted by alveolar atrophy. In the present study, the distances of the m ental foramen and the mandibular canal from the lower cortex of the ma ndible were compared in a radiographed series of 40 edentulous elderly women with advanced alveolar atrophy and 40 elderly women who had 10 or more lower teeth left. The mental foramen was situated on average 3 .8 mm lower in dentulous jaws than in dentulous jaws (P < 0.0001). The mandibular canal was also situated lower in edentulous jaws, but the difference was not statistically significant. The results confirm the finding that the mental foramen seems to descend as a result of alveol ar atrophy.