Gender determination by odontometrics in a Swedish population

Gender determination of skeletal remains is fraught with uncertainty, especially in subadults. Many anatomical structures have been studied, but the teeth and their measurements seem to be the most reliable method in individuals whose secondary sexual characteristics have not yet developed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy with which gender can be differentiated by odontometric analyses in the Swedish population. The material consisted of 58 dental casts, 29 male and 29 female, ranging in age from 14 to 38 (mean 19) years. Measurements were made on the mesio-distal, bucco-lingual, mesiobuccal-distolingual and distobuccal-mesiolingual diameters. The mean diameters for males were larger than those for females in all variables and 27 out of the 56 differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The upper canine had significant mean differences in all measurements. Lower canines, second upper and lower premolars, upper second molars and the lower first molars all had significant mean values in three of four variables. These findings support the usefulness of especially the canines in gender determination by odontometric analyses. It also shows high significant dimorphic values for some of the other variables investigated.