Estimation of Sexual Dimorphism by Mesiodistal Dimension of Permanent Maxillary Incisors and Canines

Abstract

Introduction. Sexual dimorphism is the condition where whether the specific body part or the whole bodyof two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics except for the differences in primarysexual organs. Teeth are helpful in determining the sex, stature, race, age etc. same as bony tissues whenidentification is not possible from rest of the body. Most of the studies conducted earlier are on mandibulardental tissue and literature is sparse on evaluation of maxillary area. We decided to conduct the study onmaxillary teeth.Aims and Objectives. To find the correlation between mesiodistal dimension of permanent maxillaryincisors and canines with the gender.Methods. The study was conducted in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology department, Himalayan Instituteof Medical Sciences, SRHU. The objective of the study was For the study sample of 100 individuals weretaken out of which 50 were male and 50 female, all in the age group of 17-25 years of age. For measuringthe dimension of teeth there comes mesiodistal, Buccolingual, labiolingual, crown heights, diagonal lengthetc. dimensions, but for our study we selected mesiodistal dimension. Subjects were taken according to theinclusion and exclusion criteria. The results were statistically analysed and compared with other studies.Results. The study revealed about the definite association between mesiodistal dimensions of anteriormaxillary permanent teeth and gender.Conclusions: The results showed a positive correlation between the width and sexual dimorphism inmaxillary canines, incisors and other teeth. Male teeth were greater in width as compared to female teethin Indian population. More studies with larger number of subjects would be required to establish a propercorrelation between maxillary dentition and gender.