Determination Of Gender Using Condylar Height And Coronoid Height – An Orthopantomographic Study

BACKGROUND: Identification of gender is important in forensic science and anthropology.When entire skull is not available for analysis, mandible may play a vital role in sex determination as it is the strongest bone that resists damage and disintegration. Aims and Objectives: To determine the efficacy of condylar height and coronoid height of mandible for sex determination using orthopantomographs and to compare and determine the most reliable parameter for sex determination. Materials and methods: This study was conducted using digital panoramic images of 100 each in both genders. The images captured were viewed on Kodak software and were subjected to measure the condylar and coronoid heights both on left and right side using Kodak dental imaging software. The data was entered into microsoft excel sheet and statistical analysis was done. Results: Descriptive statistics for condylar and coronoid heights on the right and left sides of mandible in both males and females were analyzed. A statistical significance of P < 0.001 has been demonstrated for all the variables. All variables showed increased measurements in males than in females. The accuracy of sex determination forcondylar height is 82.5% on right side and 78% on left side and for coronoid height it is 74% on right side and 73% on left side. Conclusion: The parameters such as condylar height and coronoid height using orthopantomographs are reliable in gender determination and the condylar height of the right side is the best parameter in gender determination.