Binary logistic regression analysis of hard palate dimensions for sexing human crania

Abstract

Sex determination is the preliminary step in every forensic investigation and the hard palate assumes significance in cranial sexing in cases involving burns and explosions due to its resistant nature and secluded location. This study analyzes the sexing potential of incisive foramen to posterior nasal spine length, palatine process of maxilla length, horizontal plate of palatine bone length and transverse length between the greater palatine foramina. The study deviates from the conventional method of measuring the maxillo-alveolar length and breadth as the dimensions considered in this study are more heat resistant and useful in situations with damaged alveolar margins. The study involves 50 male and 50 female adult dry skulls of Indian ethnic group. The dimensions measured were statistically analyzed using Student's t test, binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve. It was observed that the incisive foramen to posterior nasal spine length is a definite sex marker with sex predictability of 87.2%. The palatine process of maxilla length with 66.8% sex predictability and the horizontal plate of palatine bone length with 71.9% sex predictability cannot be relied upon as definite sex markers. The transverse length between the greater palatine foramina is statistically insignificant in sexing crania (P=0.318). Considering a significant overlap of values in both the sexes the palatal dimensions singularly cannot be relied upon for sexing. Nevertheless, considering the high sex predictability of incisive foramen to posterior nasal spine length this dimension can definitely be used to supplement other sexing evidence available to precisely conclude the cranial sex.

Assessment of the opening diameter of the incisive foramen as a parameter for gender and age estimation

“…In addition, we consider that the amount of images used is rather far from the ideal in our study as the great majority of the patients underwent CBCT examination for diagnosis and treatment planning of dental implants only, which significantly reduced our sample (Figure 4). Additionally, according to Oldrini et al [27], age estimation becomes less precise with aging because of the increased margin of error regarding the criteria used, which justifies the necessity to use a combination of methods for providing a more precise estimation [22,23]. This observation can be found in this study and explained by the overlap of values between the different age groups for both genders [23].…”

“…Remarkably, the bones forming the skull base are elements with high forensic value due to their anatomical location and peculiar resistance resulting from their osseous density [22]. Specifically, hard palate has these advantages regarding mainly the region of incisor foramen and its intra-osseous canal -elements protected by dental arches and adjacent muscles, which is the reason why we believe in the forensic value of the incisor foramen [22].…”

“…Specifically, hard palate has these advantages regarding mainly the region of incisor foramen and its intra-osseous canal -elements protected by dental arches and adjacent muscles, which is the reason why we believe in the forensic value of the incisor foramen [22].…”

“…Therefore, the necessity for research on methods with this aim, mainly from the third decade of life, is justified by considering parameters and factors related to different bone structures. This enables the estimation of age and gender with high precision and reliability in cases involving only osseous remnants available for analysis [5,6,22,23].…”

A new method for sex estimation from maxillary suture length in a Thai population

“…Therefore, it is important to establish methods for sex estimation from other parts of skeleton. Cranial base was reported to be a survived structure in archeological skeletal remains [ 4 ]. Bony and dental structures of the palate are often preserved well in forensic contexts [ 5 ].…”