Background: The position of the mental foramen is critical for surgery and local anesthesia. Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the position of the mental foramen and its relationship to age in a selected Iranian population. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Three hundred panoramic radiographs were assessed. Three variables were assessed for each radiograph: anterior-posterior position, superior-inferior position, and radiographic appearance. The position and appearance of the mental foramen were recorded according to gender and age. The results were analyzed using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Results: Considering the anterior-posterior position, the mental foramina were located in the following positions: between premolars (41.5%), at the apex of the second premolars (31.7%), in the posterior area of the second premolars (19.2%), in the anterior area of the first premolars (4.3%), and at the apex of the first premolars (3.3%).The superior-inferior position of the mental foramina were below, above, and at the level of the apices of the premolars in 78.8%, 2.5%, and 18.7% of cases, respectively. The appearance of the mental foramen was continuous in relation to the mandibular canal in 55.9% of cases, while it was separated, diffuse, and unidentified in 29.5%, 9.7%, and 5% of cases, respectively. Age was found to affect the position and appearance of mental foramen. Conclusions:The mental foramina were most commonly located between the first and second premolars and below the apex. A continuous appearance was the most common appearance for the mental foramen, which was similar in males and females.

Understanding the anatomical and pathological relationships between posterior teeth or edentulous area with maxillary sinus is essential for diagnosis and treatment management.The present study aimed to assess the relationship between maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots using panoramic radiography and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, 440 maxillary first and second premolars, and first and second molars of 55 patients were selected by the census method. The patients were referred to Sajad Maxillofacial Radiology and Navabazam Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic in Yazd City from 2011 to 2015. The relationship between each root and maxillary sinus floor was examined by oral radiologist and trained dentistry student using CBCT and panoramic radiography. To check the reproducibility of the first observer, a second observer examined 20 radiographs daily for five days and in random orders. No difference was found between the observers. The collected data were analyzed by ANOVA, Chi square, Fisher's exact test, and t test using SPSS (P≤0.05). Results: The agreement between CBCT and panoramic radiographs in determining root form was measured with kappa, which was found as 0.549 (P=0.0001). This implies that CBCT and panoramic radiographs showed an agreement in determining the position of maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots. The difference between calculated mean (SD) distances of the two methods was 0.74(2.92) mm (P=0.0001). This indicates that the measurements by panoramic radiographs differ from CBCT. Conclusion: Our study results supports use of CBCT to establish the exact correlation between maxillary sinus floor and posterior teeth roots, especially in classification 3 (projected in panoramic radiographs) for reducing damages and infection transmission.

Background: This study was performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of panoramic radiography in determining the position of impacted permanent maxillary canines. Methods: This was a diagnostic study to define how accurate panoramic radiography is in determining the position of impacted

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The high prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) of endodontic origin raises an important public health problem. Root canal treatment (RCT) and crown restoration (CR) have an effect on its prevalence. This cross-sectional study was performed to assess the effect of RCT and CR on the prevalence of AP.