Role of maxillary and mandibular canine indices in sex determination: Perspective of a forensic odontologist

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Dental evidence is valuable in identification of individuals, especially following mass disasters. Canines are found to exhibit the greatest sexual dimorphism amongst all teeth. Objective To investigate the accuracy with which gender can be differentiated by using the maxillary and mandibular canine indices in an Indian population. Material and Methods The present study was performed on 200 subjects (100 males, 100females) between the age group of 18-25 years, randomly sampled with informed consent (Through 3rd party). Results Males showed greater mean mesiodistal dimensions for each tooth in comparison to females in both maxillary and mandibular arches. When the level of accuracy for sex determination was measured using maxillary canine index it was found that 55% females and 60% males were classified correctly. The level of accuracy for sex determination using mandibular canine index found 67% females and 78% males were classified correctly. Conclusion canine indices are a quick and reliable method for sexual identification when a standard for the population is available. With these calculations, we could predict the sex correctly at 72.5% and 57.5 % in this study for mandibular and maxillary canine indices respectively. This method can be used as adjunct to other available tools for sex How to cite this article Pramod RC, Nupura V, Suresh KV, Vidya K, Sharan JS, Neha S. Role of maxillary and mandibular canine indices in sex determination: Perspective of a forensic odontologist. CODS J Dent 2014;6;68-71