Age- and sex-related changes in the position of the mental foramina and age estimation methods that use these changes

The position of the mental foramen is reported to change with age. This study aimed to examine age-related changes in the position of the mental foramen in men and women. Among 200 cases (age 21–100 years; 400 foramina) that underwent postmortem computed tomography, 109 (age 21–93 years; 218 foramina) with mandibular first and second premolars were examined using image analysis software to classify the position of the mental foramen according to Fishel’s classification, and the χ² test was performed. The results showed that there was an association between age and the position of the mental foramen. The distance between the mental foramina was measured for 200 cases and a single regression analysis was conducted. The possibility that this method could be used to estimate the age of the cadavers was examined. The results of the single regression analysis showed a positive correlation (r = 0.54) of the distance with age in men and a negative correlation (r=-0.54) in women. The mean coefficient of determination for single regression analysis was 0.26 for both sexes, which was low, making it unsuitable as a stand-alone age estimation index, although it can aid in age estimation.