Minimum ramus breadth and coronoid height in gender determination - An orthopantomographic study.

Background: Gender determination is an important part of forensic dentistry and legal investigations. Mandible is the largest, sexually dimorphic, and strongest bone of the facial skeleton. Morphometric measurements of the mandible by using orthopantomogram are widely used in gender determination.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of minimum ramus breath and coronoid height of the mandible for gender determination using orthopantomogram.

Materials and methods: Sixty orthopantomograms of 30 males and 30 females between the age group of 30 to 40 years were collected. The minimum ramus breath and the coronoid height were measured using a computerized software. The data obtained was statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) software.

Results: The mean minimal ramus breath and mean coronoid height were greater in males than in females. The mean minimal ramus breath for males was found to be 37.83 ± 2.24 and for females, it was 33.08 ± 4.87 (P = 0.00). The mean coronoid height of males was 80.67 ± 0.83 and that of females was 73.51 ± 1.26 (P = 0.00).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that the mandible is a sexually dimorphic bone, and the minimum ramus breath and coronoid height can be used in gender determination. However, population specific studies with larger sample sizes are recommended.