Assessing age-related change in Japanese mental foramen opening direction using multidetector computed tomography

Authors

  • Namiko Ishii Graduate School of Medicine Chiba University
  • Yohsuke Makino Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Misuzu Fujita Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Ayaka Sakuma Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Suguru Torimitsu Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Fumiko Chiba Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Daisuke Yajima Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Go Inokuchi Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Ayumi Motomura Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Hirotaro Iwase Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
  • Hisako Saitoh Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan

Keywords:

Forensic Odontology, Forensic Anthropology, Postmortem Computed Tomography Imaging, Aging, Japanese

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate how the opening direction of the mental foramen (MF) changes with age in a Japanese population using multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). Methods: Post-mortem MDCT scans of 121 Japanese subjects (66 males and 55 females) were carried out where all subjects possessed at least twenty teeth, including molar teeth, in the upper and lower jaws. Two angles of the mental foramen opening were measured, namely the superior-inferior angle in the coronal plane and anterior-posterior angle in the transverse plane, on the CT reconstructed images. The associations between age and these two angles were evaluated using a multiple regression analysis. Results: For male subjects, the relationship between the superior-inferior angle and age was a quadratic curve (p<0.001). This angle increased until the subject reached their early 50s and then the angle decreased with age. In the transverse plane, there

was a linear relation between the anterior-posterior angle and age (p=0.002).It was noted also that the angle decreased with age. By contrast, however, no significant associations between the two angles and age for either measurement were noted for female subjects. This study demonstrated that the opening direction of the mental foramen changes with age in Japanese male subjects. By contrast this change in the opening direction of the mental foramen was not demonstrated in Japanese female subjects. In male subjects, the opening direction moves superiorly until the individual reaches their early 50s, and then moves inferiorly with advancing age. It also shifts from a posterior to an anterior position with age. Conclusion: These observed change differ from the results of previous studies. The findings could be useful for forensic science as they demonstrate a change in the position of mental foramen in a sample of contemporaneous male Japanese subjects.

 

Author Biography

Namiko Ishii, Graduate School of Medicine Chiba University

Department of Legal medicine

Downloads

Published

2017-10-17

How to Cite

Ishii, N., Makino, Y., Fujita, M., Sakuma, A., Torimitsu, S., Chiba, F., … Saitoh, H. (2017). Assessing age-related change in Japanese mental foramen opening direction using multidetector computed tomography. The Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology - JFOS, 34(2), 11: 20. Retrieved from https://ojs.iofos.eu/index.php/Journal/article/view/835

Issue

Section

Anthropology Archeology