International Journal of Dentistry Research 2023; 8(3): 61-66 DOI:10.31254/dentistry.2023.8302

Research Article

Mandibular ramus- a tool for gender determination. A retrospective study using digital panoramic radiographs

Dave Gunjan T¹ , Parikh Neelampari²

Dave Gunjan T,Parikh Neelampari

1. PhD Scholar, Oral Pathology, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
2. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial pathology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Dharamsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat, India

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 26th November, 2023 / Accepted: 29th December, 2023 / Published : 30th December, 2023

Abstract

Gender identification is one of the prefatory procedure of forensic examination. Skull along with mandible is the most sexually dimorphic bone after pelvis and is reliable for gender identification. Mandible is indeed a durable and robust facial bone being often used for anthropological and forensic studies because it retains its shape well over time making a valuable tool for identifying individuals. Being advantageous from various aspects, calibrated panoramic radiographs (OPG) have been employed in this study for performing measurements. The primary objective is to investigate the potential of using linear measurements of left and right side of mandibular ramus on OPG for gender identification within the Gujarat population. Specifically the study aims to assess whether the left or right side of mandibular ramus provides more reliable data for gender identification. Material and method: 193 panoramic radiographs were chosen randomly from archives of Oral Medicine and Radiology Department of Karnavati School of Dentistry, Gandhinagar after obtaining ethical committee clearance and applying set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study comprised of 111 females and 82 males spanning an age range of 16-75 years. Image j software was employed for measuring linear parameters like Condylar length, Coronoid length, maximum & minimal ramal breadth. Data was obtained and gender determination regression equations were developed for right as well as left side based on these measurements. statistical analysis performed using SPSS 23 software. Results: t test conducted for all 4 parameters on left and right side between males and females indicated statistically highly significant difference with a p-value of 0.0001. Furthermore, the discriminant functional analysis yielded prediction accuracy of 79.3% for the right side of ramus and 80.8% for left side in terms of gender identification. Sectioning points for distinguishing between females and males on right side was 0.1315 and that on left side were 0.13 respectively. This results lead to conclusion that mandibular ramus can be a viable tool for gender determination with left side of ramus being more accurate predictor of gender than right side of ramus.