Evaluation of Sexual Dimorphism with Mandibular Parameters by Digital Panoramic Radiography

Abstract

Introduction: Sex determination is the first step of personal identification in the field of forensics and is essential for reconstructive profiling. The skull appears to be the most reliable part of the skeleton, apart from the pelvis, in sex determination. Tooth and bone are used as a key tool for personal identification due to their high resistance to decomposition and degradation. The present study aimed to evaluate the sexual dimorphism with mandibular parameters by digital panoramic radiography. Materials and Methods: In this analytical-descriptive study, the mandibular parameters in 315 females and 217 males, including the ramus height, the coronoid height, the mental height, the mandible body height, the minimum width of the ramus, the distance between the right and left gonial angle, the distance between the right and left condyle and the distance between the right and left coronoid, were measured in the panoramic radiography via SCANORA software. Discriminant function and canonical regression methods were used to determine the predictability of mandibular parameters in sexual dimorphism. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: All parameters were statistically significant between genders (P<0.05). The mean of all parameters, except the gonial angle, in males, was higher than that of the female. Percentage of correctly classified in discriminant function based on the central and right side and left side dimorphic parameters of the mandible is 82.5% and 82.9%, respectively. Conclusion: According to the present study, panoramic radiography can be considered as a valuable tool in sex determination (with an accuracy of 82.5%), and all parameters of mandible had sexual dimorphism and showed that they are reliable parameters with a total accuracy of 82.5% in the sexual dimorphism.

Forensic sex classification using cut-off values from cranio-mandibular radiologic parameters

“…All the variables showed significant differences between the sexes (p < 0.001), except for the angular variables (Agn-go_D, Agn-go_E) with p-values > 0.05. P-values < 0.001 agree with comparable studies: Sairam et al (2016) referred p-values < 0.001, Farzaneh et al [1] p < 0.0001, Abu-Taleb et al [10] p < 0.001, Damera et al [4] p = 0.00, Indira et al [3] p < 0.001, Sambhana et al [11] p < 0.0001, and Al-Shamout et al [13] p < 0.0001. However, for angular measurements with p-values > 0.05, some comparable studies reported different results: Farzaneh et al [1] p < 0.0001, Abu-Taleb et al [10] p < 0.001, Da mera et al [4] p = 0.00, and Chole et al [12] p < 0.05.…”

“…The CCI values obtained from the comparison of measurement times for 11 variables were above 0.75, indicating excellent reproducibility, and in 3 variables, the CCI values were slightly below 0.75, defining reproducibility as good [8]. These results are in line with similar literature: Farzaneh et al [1] reported 0.92 for intra-observer reproducibility, and Damera et al [4] a value of 0.81 [1,4].…”

“…Age, sex, ethnic group, and type of occlusion affect morphological characteristics of the mandible. Scientific evidences demonstrate that aging process is accompanied by re-modeling of the mandibular bone [1,5,6,9,14].…”

Interprocessus distances based on gender using panoramic radiographs

“…[4][5][6] In cases where there is no intact skull bone, the mandible plays an important role because it is part of the skull bone, the most dimorphic, the largest, and the strongest. [4][5][6][7][8] In the mandible, the condyle and ramus are the two areas that show the highest sexual dimorphism. 3 One of the variables that shows sexual dimorphism in the mandible is through the interprocessus.…”

“…10 The lower cost and wide area coverage and ease of preparation make panoramic radiographs the best choice. 8 Based on existing studies, the accuracy of panoramic radiographs in the anatomical measurement of the mandible has been demonstrated and shows that the mandible has a high sexual dimorphism. 2 Research to measure the distance between interprocessus has never been done before, therefore it is important to do this research.…”