GENDER AND AGE DETERMINATION BY RADIOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE POSITION OF MENTAL FORAMEN IN NAVI MUMBAI POPULATION

Background - In physical and forensic anthropology the skull is extremely informative with regard to the identification of sex and age of an individual. It plays a vital role in establishing the identity of the deceased. The skull has been described as “The bone and core of the fleshy head and face” Gender and age determination plays a crucial role in the identification of human remains as it narrows the possibility for identification by 50 %. Many studies have observed the gender differences based on height of mandible, gonial angle, bigonial breadth and bicondylar breadth. But few studies have been done on gender and age determination based on the position of mental foramen. Aim: To evaluate gender and age differences based on the distance from superior and inferior borders of mental foramen to lower border of the mandible, along with height of the mandible in our population. Material and methods – Retrospective OPGs of subjects aged between 14 to 65 years taken for orthodontic and periodontic purposes were selected for the study. Out of the total 500 radiographs screened, 376 radiographs were considered for the study. The panoramic radiographs of patients were captured using Xtropan 2000 system and digitally processed. The distance from superior border of mental foramen (SMF) and inferior border of mental foramen (IMF) to the lower border of mandible (LBM) and height of mandible (AC – LBM) were measured. Result - The distance from SMF and IMF to LBM and height of mandible was more in males when compared to females, which was statistically significant which is justifying the sexual dimorphism. Also, values were useful for the deriving formula for age determination.  Conclusion: The distances from SMF and IMF to the LBM and height of the mandible showed significant sexual dimorphism and helps in age determination