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Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology

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Testing discriminant functions for sex determination from deciduous teeth.

Hugo F V Cardoso¹

¹Departamento de Zoologia e Antropologia, Museu Nacional de Histria Natural & Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Lisboa, Portugal. hfcardoso@fc.ul.pt

Journal of Forensic Sciences

|August 17, 2010

Summary

Sex determination from deciduous teeth using discriminant functions showed poor accuracy in Portuguese children. Tooth crown size has limited forensic value for sex identification across different populations.

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Area of Science:

Forensic Anthropology
Odontology
Human Biology

Background:

Discriminant functions for sex determination from deciduous tooth crown dimensions have been proposed in previous studies.
Accurate sex determination is crucial in forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology.

Purpose of the Study:

This study aimed to test the accuracy of existing discriminant functions for sex determination using deciduous tooth crown dimensions in a Portuguese sample.
The study also aimed to develop and cross-validate new discriminant functions based on the collected data.

Main Methods:

The study analyzed mesiodistal and faciolingual crown dimensions of deciduous teeth from 46 immature Portuguese skeletons (birth to 10 years).
Existing discriminant functions were applied to the sample, and accuracy was calculated.
New discriminant functions were computed from the study's data and tested using cross-validation.

Main Results:

Overall accuracy of existing discriminant functions ranged from 33.3% to 75%.
Cross-validation results for newly calculated functions showed poor accuracy, ranging from 46.2% to 60.0%.
Low sexual dimorphism in deciduous tooth crown size and inter-sample variations contributed to the poor performance.

Conclusions:

Deciduous tooth crown size demonstrates limited forensic value for sex determination, especially when applying methods developed on one population to another.
Significant differences in sexual dimorphism and tooth size between populations reduce the reliability of these methods.
Further research may be needed to explore other dental or skeletal indicators for sex determination in immature individuals.