Locational Relationship of the Supraorbital Notch or Foramen and Infraorbital and Mental Foramina in Koreans

Abstract

The morphology and locational relationship of the supraorbital notch/foramen, infraorbital foramen, and mental foramen were studied from photographs of 124 Korean skulls (male 35, female 18, unknown sex 71). The infraorbital foramen was on the sagittal plane passing through the supraorbital notch/foramen (36.4%), or lateral to the plane (63.6%). The mental foramen was either on the plane (69.3%), lateral to the plane (21.8%), or medial to the plane (9.0%). The supraorbital notch/foramen, infraorbital foramen, and mental foramen were on the same sagittal plane in 38.1% of the cases. The supraorbital notch (69.9%) was found more frequently than the supraorbital foramen (28.9%). The average distance from the median plane to the center of the supraorbital notch/foramen, infraorbital foramen, and mental foramen was 22.7, 27.2 and 24.4 mm, respectively. The average length of the line from the center of the supraorbital notch/foramen to the center of the infraorbital foramen was 45.6 mm, and the angle of this line to the sagittal plane was 5.8 degrees. The average distance from the infraorbital margin to the center of the infraorbital foramen was 8.6 mm, and that from the inferior margin of mandible to the center of the mental foramen was 15.5 mm in males and 14.0 mm in females. The average horizontal width of the supraorbital notch/foramen, infraorbital foramen, and mental foramen was 4.7, 4.8 and 2.4 mm, respectively. Most commonly, the infraorbital foramen was lateral to the sagittal plane of the supraorbital notch/foramen, and the mental foramen was on that plane. This locational relationship would be helpful clinically to determine the location of the infraorbital and mental foramina, by palpation of the supraorbital notch.