Ethnicity and Gender Determination by Means of Intercanine and Intermolar Width in Uttarakhand Population

ABSTRACT

Teeth are an excellent material in living and non-living populations for anthropological and forensic investigations as they are the hardest and chemically most stable tissues of the body. The dentition used in gender determination has been explored, as they exhibit the least turnover of natural structure and are readily accessible for examination as they are resistant to various insults. Our aim was to determine and evaluate the usefulness of Intercanine, Intermolar arch width for gender determination and for ethnicity difference of the people living in Uttrakhand and to validate its use as a forensic tool. Methods: 100 subjects were selected and impressions were made for maxillary arch with alginate. Study models were made and analysed with digital Vernier calliper. Results: The mean Inter canine width and the mean intermolar width were higher in males than females and the differnces were highly significant statistically [P < 0.008].On comparing between Punjabi and native population of Uttarakhand ,the ICD & IMD values were higher in Punjabi population [P < 0.001]. Conclusion: Therefore , we can conclude that the Intercanine and intermolar widths are useful in determining the gender/ ethnicity of the population.