Application of Digital Vernier Caliper on Adult Egyptians’ Dental Arches for Age and Sex Identification

Abstract

Abstract Background Forensic odontology is the application of the science of dentistry to the field of criminal and civil laws. Dental arch dimensions are used in forensic medicine to aid the identification of living humans and their remains in severe conditions and mass disasters due to the survivability and diversity of dental structures. Aim This study aimed to determine and evaluate the usefulness of inter-canine, inter-molar arch widths, and arch depth of the mandible for age and sex identification in adult Egyptian samples. Methods This is a prospective study involving 150 Egyptian adult patients (75 male and 75 females) who attended the dental clinic at Ain Shams University Dental Hospital during the period from the beginning of October 2020 to the end of September 2021. Aged from 8 to 50 years and divided into 3 age groups. Both jaw impressions were taken with alginate and study models were prepared, inter canine, intermolar widths, and total arch length were measured in all the cases, and findings were tabulated. Results The current study showed a high statistically significant difference between the maxilla and the mandible as regards the ICW, IMW, and TAL dimensions (P value<0.001), all the study measures were higher for males than females in both maxilla and mandible in the three age groups. Maxillary and mandibular inter- canine intermolar widths were statistically significant in sex identification in most age groups, either together or separately, but for total arch length, both jaws are needed to identify sex in all age groups specifically males in the first and third age groups. Conclusion Both dental arches’ dimensions (ICW, IMW &TAL) are dependable specific parameters for age and sex identification in adult Egyptians. Recommendation: Further studies are needed to assess different arches forms in the Egyptian population, especially with the presence of other ethnic groups now in Egypt. to identify correlations between the different parameters measured in this study to establish the interactions among them in the human face growth and effect on victim identification.