Gender determination of skeletal remains is a part of many medico-legal as well as anthropological
examinations. Many anatomical structures have been studied but the teeth seem to be the most
reliable structure since teeth represent the durable and resilient part of the skeleton. In this study,
odontometric evaluation of mandibular canine width and inter-canine distance was carried out on 400
apparently healthy individuals whose ages ranged between 17-30 years at a gender ratio of 1:1 so as
to determine the sex of individuals and possibility of dimorphism of the canines being used as a valid
tool in the forensic and legal identification of an individual. These measurements were done with
digital vernier caliper while the mandibular canine indices were derived by the division of the
mandibular canine width by the inter-canine distance. The mean right mandibular canine width was
7.35±0.55 and mean left mandibular canine width of 7.64±0.48 in males while females had 6.84±0.35
and 7.07±0.41 respectively. The percentage analysis of sexual dimorphism showed that the left
mandibular canine exhibited a greater degree of sexual dimorphism. The inter-canine distance
showed a high degree of sexual dimorphism which was found statistically significant. The calculated
MCI was greater in males than in females, but when offered for prediction of sex, out of 200 males,
sex was correctly predicted only in 65 males and out of 200 females, only 58 were correctly predicted.
Thus MCI of right side values showed 31.5% of males and 29% in females while MCI left side values
showed 36% of males and 27.5% in females. Therefore, the mandibular canine width and inter-canine
distance have proven beyond doubt high degree of sexual dimorphism hence a useful material in
forensic identification while the use of MCI in forensic identification is discarded.
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Author Name: 1Chukwujekwu I. E., * 1Ezejindu D. N., 1Moses F. C.
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Keywords: Odontometry, Sex determination, Mandibular canine width, Mandibular inter-canine distance, Mandibular canine index.
ISSN: 2408-7246
EISSN: 2408-7246
EOI/DOI:
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