Aim: To assess pattern of changes n the position of mandibular foramen in growing children between 3 and 13 years of dental age.
Design: Panoramic radiographs were obtained from patients requiring pre-operative radiographs for routine dental treatment. The
radiographs were traced from which the relative position of the mandibular foramen was assessed and compared in different age
groups to determine the growth pattern of the mandible and changes in the location of the mandibular foramen.
Results: There was overall increase in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Horizontally the distance between the mandibular
foramen and the anterior border of the ramus was always greater than the distance between the mandibular foramen and the posterior
border of the ramus. Comparatively the vertical dimension showed more increase than that of horizontal dimensions.
Conclusion: There was no great difference in the relative position of the mandibular foramen and lied somewhere between half to
two-thirds of the entire width of the ramus posteriorly and roughly around the occlusal plane.
