Gender determination by radiographic analysis of mental foramen in the Maharashtra population of India

CONTEXT: Identification of gender is of primary importance in forensic investigations when only fragment of skull remains. Mandible is a hard bone and exhibits a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Gender differences were observed in the height of mandible, gonial angle, bigonial breadth, bicondylar breadth, and position of mental foramen (MF). AIMS OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study is to evaluate gender differences in distances from superior border of MF (SMF) and inferior border of MF (IMF) to the lower border of mandible (LBM) and height of mandible in the Maharashtra population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 400 patients (200 males and 200 females) were considered for the study. The panoramic radiographs of patients were captured using Xtropan 2000 system and Carestream (T-Mat GIRA) films. The distance from SMF and IMF to the LBM and the height of mandible was measured. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Unpaired t-test was applied to calculate the differences between the genders. RESULTS: The distance from SMF and IMF to LBM and height of mandible was more in males when compared to females, which was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The distances from SMF and IMF to the LBM and height of the mandible showed sexual dimorphism in the Maharashtra population of India.