The purpose of this study was to determine the thickness of the cortical bone at the mandibular angle in children and adolescents. The subjects were composed of 153 subjects who were 3 to 17 years of age that had not been history of bone disease or metabolic disease and no dental caries or tooth loss on mandibular molars. The subjects were divided into three age groups, group I (preschool children) was 3 to 5 years of age and grouop II (school children) was 6 to 11 years of age and group III (adolescence) was 12 to 17 years of age. Panoramic radiographs of these patients were collected and measurements of the thickness of the cortical bone were obtained at the mandibular angle. The average thickness of the cortical bone in the group I was 1.01$pm$0.18 mm in boys and 1.07$pm$0.22 mm in girls. In the group II was 1.23$pm$0.18 mm in boys and 1.32$pm$0.18 mm in girls. In the group III was 1.60$pm$0.23 mm in boys and 1.58$pm$0.20 mm in girls. Statistical analyses did not reveal any significant difference between the right or left side of the mandible but difference was exist between the same age groups by sex, especially in group II (p<0.01), except in group III. The greater thickness of cortical bone in the older age group was shown to be statistically significant. The correlation coefficient between age and the thickness of the cortical bone at the mandibular angle showed a high value of r=0.76.