{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T15:27:57Z","timestamp":1786116477446,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785974400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: This study aimed to describe the CBCT-based positional measurements and morphological distribution of the mandibular foramen in growing individuals and to compare the M1, M2, and M3 measurements according to chronological age group, sex, and sagittal skeletal class. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 120 CBCT images of individuals aged 6\u201316 years (mean 10.31 \u00b1 2.33 years; 67 male, 53 female) selected from 750 archived scans. Participants were divided into three age groups (6\u20138, 9\u201312, and 13\u201316 years) and classified using the ANB angle (Class I, II, and III). Three measurements were assessed: M1 (foramen to occlusal plane), M2 (to posterior ramus border), and M3 (to anterior ramus border). Foramen morphology was classified into five types: circular-, elliptical-, triangular-, rectangular-, and parallelogram-shaped. The Mann\u2013Whitney U and Kruskal\u2013Wallis tests were used, followed by Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons where appropriate. Results: Interobserver ICC values ranged from 0.75 to 0.81, indicating good interobserver reliability. In the unadjusted comparisons, no statistically significant differences in M1, M2, or M3 were detected according to sex or sagittal skeletal class (all p &gt; 0.05). Significant age-related differences were identified in M2 between the 6\u20138 and 9\u201312 year groups (right p = 0.003; left p = 0.021) and between the 6\u20138 and 13\u201316 year groups (right p &lt; 0.001; left p = 0.003). Elliptical morphology was most prevalent bilaterally (right 39.2%; left 40.0%). Conclusions: Statistically significant age-group differences were detected only for M2, whereas no statistically significant differences according to sex or sagittal skeletal class were detected in this sample. Greater M2 values in the older age groups represent a greater absolute linear distance between the fixed mandibular foramen reference point and the posterior ramal reference line and should not be interpreted as evidence of posterior displacement. Elliptical morphology was the most frequently observed form bilaterally. These findings provide anatomical information from clinically indicated CBCT examinations but do not support routine CBCT acquisition solely for mandibular foramen localization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13081048","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T09:46:38Z","timestamp":1786009598000},"page":"1048","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["CBCT Evaluation of the Mandibular Foramen According to Age, Sex, and Sagittal Skeletal Class in Growing Individuals"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-6753-0608","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u0130lhan","family":"Sengul","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3735-9714","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mustafa","family":"Utkun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-2196-4885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mesut","family":"Kaygusuz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9660-9838","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mehmet Emin","family":"Dogan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-5128-2528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Burcu Nur","family":"Turkoglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3089-1305","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mehmet Sinan","family":"Do\u011fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Harran University, Sanliurfa 63290, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.25122\/jml-2022-0007","article-title":"Localization of mandibular foramen\u2014A comparison between dry bones and orthopantomogram","volume":"15","author":"Kaur","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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