Gender determination from pulpal tissue

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of X (Barr body [BB]) and Y (F body [FB]) chromosomes observed in dental pulp tissue for gender determination of an individual. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out on 100 teeth (50 male and 50 female), which were indicated for extraction. The teeth were sectioned at various intervals (within 12 h to 49 days post-extraction), and the pulpal tissue was obtained. Two slides for each pulp tissue were prepared, one for 5% Quinacrine dihydrochloride stain (FB) and the other for Hemotoxylin and Eosin stain (BB). The slides were then observed under the fluorescent microscope for FB and under the light microscope for the BB respectively. RESULTS: Gender determination from human pulp is possible up to 7 weeks. The percentage of FB and BB decrease gradually as the time interval increases. Further, an equation was derived from the data based on the canonical discriminant function coefficients. CONCLUSION: The determination of gender based on a joint search for the presence or absence of X (BB) and Y (FB) Chromosome is a reliable and cost-effective technique.