The surgical relevance of the anatomic position of the extraosseous mental nerve in a Kenyan population

INTRODUCTION Precise location of the mental nerve is important in implant surgery, administration of mental nerve block anaesthesia, and for osteotomy procedures. The position is known to show inter-population differences but data from sub-saharan region is scarce. METHODS The point of emergence of 64 nerves was studied and data analyzed with Microsoft Excel 2010 and differences in side means compared using the paired one tailed student's t test. RESULTS The location of left mental nerve was 2.85 (±0.38) cm, 1.42 (±0.33) cm, 1.77 (±0.46) cm while the right was 2.91(±0.47) cm, 1.38 (±0.3.1) cm, 1.71 (±0.46) cm from the mental symphysis, inferior border of mandible and cemento-enamel junction respectively. The differences in position between the right and left sides were not statistically significant (p<0.05 CI: 95%). It emerged inferior to but in line with the 2nd premolar in 57.8% of the cases, 2nd premolar-1st molar (25%) and inter-premolar junction (9.4%). Unique to this study, was the location of the MN at the canine (3.1%), and 1st molar (4.7%) positions. CONCLUSION The aberrant position of the mental nerve seen in 42%, is an important consideration for tooth implants and placement of mandibular reconstruction plates.