Comparison of Bimaxillary Permanent Canine Arch Width in Terms of Human Sex Identification for Metric Analysis of Bite Marks

Abstract

Bite marks analysis is an important issue of forensic sciences where the copies bite patterns are superimposed over the dental models and metric analysis is performed. These cases show a patterned injury, where the traces of six anterior teeth are usually present, among which the most prominent mark is found in the canine teeth area. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the sexual dimorphism from the bimaxillary inter canine arch width for both maxilla and mandibula. The study was conducted on the dental casts of 200 persons (100 female and 100 male) with an age average of 23 years. All measurements of this research were taken by first author, who measured the casts twice in different time intervals. The inter observer error of these measurements was calculated by descriptive statistics and the error value between the measurements was found insignificant for both maxilla and mandibula of females and males. From the result of this research, the accurately diagnosed dimorphic inter canine teeth measurements and the undefined intersection areas were calculated for both maxilla and mandibula of females and males. These accurately diagnosed dimorphic measurements may lead the forensic expert to an easy and rapid sex identification result, in case the dental data of the specific population is known which the investigated person was affiliated.