Odontometric study analysis of mandibular canine teeth to establish sexual dimorphism in North Indian population

Abstract

Knowledge of sex of a person becomes the first priority of a forensic investigator in the process of identification. Dental evidence pours in an invaluable informative data towards achieving the final positive results in establishing the unknown’s identity. Studies have shown that the mandibular canine resist disease, survive extreme post-mortem environmental conditions and presents the highest sexual dimorphism amongst all teeth, making them an ideal teeth in forensic identification procedures. The aim of present study was to know the use of the Mandibular Canine Index (MCI) in assessing sex in North Indian population. In a sample size of 80 males and females (40 male and 40 female) in the age group 21-24years, mandibular canine width and Inter canine distance measurements were noted intraorally and the MCI was calculated and compared with stranded MCI values.