Accuracy of using diagonal measurements of maxillary canine, first premolar and first molar teeth in sex determination in a Pondicherry Cohort

Abstract

Introduction: Sex may be determined from various parts of the human body like the skull remains, femur, humerus etc. However, in forensic cases, when human skeletal remains (such as skull, pelvis, femur, humerus, radius, clavicle, and ulnae etc.) are fragmented or incomplete, the teeth may be used for sex determination. The aim and objective of the present study: i) To assess the degree of sexual dimorphism in maxillary canines, first premolars and first molars using diagonal diameters of the crown (mesiobuccal-distolingual: MBDL, mesiolingual–distobuccal: MLDB/ DBML). ii) To determine the accuracy of maxillary canines, first premolars and first molars using diagonal measurements of the crown in sex determination. Materials and Methods: This study included 30 participants with equal gender ratio i.e 15 males:15 females and age ranged from 18 to 30 years. The participants were selected from Pondicherry population who visited to our department. Crown diagonal measurement of canines, first premolars and first molars were taken from right and left sides with the help of digital caliper (resolution of 0.1mm, accuracy of ±0.2mm). Data was analysed statistically usingdescriptive analysisand discriminant function analysis. Results: All crown diagonal dimensions in male revealed higher mean value than female except left premolar MBDL crown dimensions (male=7.8600, female=7.8733). There was significant difference in mean value of MBDL crown dimension of left canine, left first molar and right first molar between males than females. MBDL crown dimension of left maxillary canine exhibited the highest accuracy (66.7%) for sex determination with 60% in males and 73.3% in females. Conclusion: We conclude that diagonal crown (MBDL crown) dimension of left maxillary canine and first molar, right maxillary first molar can be used as an aid for gender determination where linear crown width (MD and BL) measurements cannot be taken or used as an aid along with other accepted procedu