## 3 Results  
The ages of the chosen male and female subjects were not significantly different (\(p\) > 0.01). All metrical measurements were found to be repeatable (Table 1), with both intra- and inter-observer errors classified as \"very good\" or \"good\" for each parameter [14]. The results from the assessment of the metrical measurements are exposed in Table 2: the width ranged between 1.4 mm and 6.8 mm, the height ranged between 1.2 mm and 5.4 mm, the depth ranged between 3.0 mm and 13.2 mm, the distance from the lower mandibular edge ranged between 11.4 mm and 21.0 mm and the distance from the upper mandibular edge ranged between 4.6 mm and 20.6 mm. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline  & **Intra-Observer Error (\%)** & **Inter-Observer Error (\%)** \\ \hline Width & 3.3 & 4.4 \\ Height & 2.6 & 5.4 \\ Depth & 3.4 & 5.5 \\ Distance from inferior & 3.2 & 5.2 \\ mandibular edge & 2.0 & 4.1 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: rTEM (relative technical error of measurement) recorded for the intra- and inter-observer assessment of different metrical measurements. For what concerns the position of the MF according to teeth, most of the subjects showed a degree of three or four (between the first and second premolar or at the level of the second premolar); in most of the cases, the MF was located below the dental apices (Table 3). Among metrical measurements, the depth and distance from the inferior and superior mandibular edges were higher in males than in females (\(p<0.01\)), with an eta squared classified as medium (between 0.06 and 0.14) [15]. No difference according to side or interaction between sex and side was found for any measurement (\(p>0.01\)). Instead, the position according to teeth and dental apices did not show differences according to sex or side (Table 4). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Two-Way ANOVA Test**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Sex**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Side**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Sex \(\times\) Side**} \\ \cline{2-10}  & **F** & \(\mathbf{p}\) & \(\mathbf{\eta^{2}}\) & **F** & \(\mathbf{p}\) & \(\mathbf{\eta^{2}}\) & **F** & \(\mathbf{p}\) & \(\mathbf{\eta^{2}}\) \\ \hline Width & 3.492 & 0.063 & 0.018 & 0.032 & 0.859 & 0.000 & 0.670 & 0.414 & 0.003 \\ \hline Height & 1.770 & 0.185 & 0.009 & 0.215 & 0.643 & 0.001 & 0.033 & 0.856 & 0.000 \\ \hline Depth & 31.611 * & \textless{}0.001 & 0.139 * & 0.811 & 0.369 & 0.004 & 0.139 & 0.709 & 0.001 \\ \hline Distance from inferior mandibular edge & 28.615 * & \textless{}0.001 & 0.126 * & 0.824 & 0.365 & 0.004 & 0.224 & 0.637 & 0.001 \\ \hline Distance from superior mandibular edge & 17.720 * & \textless{}0.001 & 0.083 * & 0.423 & 0.516 & 0.002 & 0.204 & 0.652 & 0.001 \\ \hline Chi-square test & Chi-square & \(p\) & Chi-square & \(p\) & & & & & \\ \hline Position according to teeth & 3.501 & 0.623 & 4.049 & 0.132 & & & & & \\ \hline Position according to dental apices & 0.374 & 0.996 & 0.111 & 0.946 & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Differences according to sex and side for width, height, distance from inferior and superior mandibular edge (two-way ANOVA test) and position of the MF according to teeth and dental apices (Chi-square test). *: \(p<0.01\). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Type**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Position According to Teeth (\%)**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Position According to Dental Apices (\%)**} \\ \cline{2-9}  & **1** & **2** & **3** & **4** & **5** & **6** & **1** & **2** & **3** \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Males} & R & 6 & 10 & 38 & 34 & 12 & 0 & 6 & 24 & 70 \\  & L & 6 & 4 & 42 & 36 & 12 & 0 & 6 & 24 & 70 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Females} & R & 6 & 6 & 36 & 32 & 18 & 2 & 14 & 28 & 58 \\  & L & 6 & 6 & 44 & 26 & 16 & 2 & 14 & 24 & 62 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Total} & R & 6 & 8 & 37 & 33 & 15 & 1 & 10 & 26 & 64 \\  & L & 6 & 5 & 43 & 31 & 14 & 1 & 10 & 24 & 66 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}