The mental foramen is one of two foramina (openings) located on the anterior surface of the mandible.

It transmits the terminal branches of the inferior alveolar nerve and the mental vessels.

It is directly below the commisure of the lips, and the tendon of depressor labii inferioris muscle.

[2] The mental foramen is in line with the longitudinal axis of the 2nd premolar in 63% of people.

[3] It generally lies at the level of the vestibular fornix and about a finger's breadth above the inferior border of the mandible.