Determining dental sex dimorphism in South Indians using discriminant function analysis

Area of Science:

• Forensic Odontology
• Anthropology

Background:

• Dental forensics is crucial for victim identification using dental evidence.
• Tooth and skull morphology provide key identification markers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the accuracy of odontometric methods for sex determination in permanent teeth.
• To develop a discriminant function formula for differentiating male and female teeth in the South Indian population.

Main Methods:

• Selected 100 subjects from a population of 4800 students.
• Recorded 12 tooth measurements of upper anterior teeth using digital vernier calipers.
• Applied stepwise discriminant function analysis for gender differentiation.

Main Results:

• Male teeth dimensions were consistently larger than female teeth dimensions.
• Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in various tooth measurements between sexes.
• Mesiodistal width of central incisors and canine measurements showed strong discriminant power.

Conclusions:

• Sexual dimorphism in tooth size is population-specific, necessitating localized standards.
• Odontometric analysis provides a simple, cost-effective, and accurate method for sex determination in forensic investigations.