Bilateral absence of the mental foramen detected by cone-beam computed tomography

摘要

The mental foramen (MF) is an important anatomical landmark for the diagnosis of mandibular lesions or pre-implant diagnosis. Some rare cases with normal variations of the MF, such as accessory foramina or retromolar foramen, have been reported. The aim of this article is to report a very rare normal variation, bilateral absence of the MF, which was detected incidentally by cone-beam computed tomography performed prior to a dental implant.