RESUMO
BACKGROUND: To identify the sex of the deceased individual from dental hard tissue such as enamel and dentine. OBJECTIVE: To isolate the DNA from dental hard tissue (enamel and dentin) from teeth extracted for prophylactic purpose, to assess the quality and purity of DNA and to identify the sex using polymerized chain reactor (PCR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA was extracted following phenol/chloroform (organic) extraction from 20 male and 20 female teeth. The samples that contain the amelogenin gene (amel) were amplified by PCR. The products of the PCR were run on agarose gel with ethidium bromide staining on gel documentation system. RESULTS: The results on the gel showed the presence of X-specific bands at 212 bp and Y-specific bands at 218 bp. Males were distinguished from females by the presence of two bands whereas female samples showed only one, that is, X-specific band on the gel. The gender from the known samples was determined with complete accuracy, and the results were analyzed statistically by the Chi-square test. CONCLUSION: In our study, the PCR-based method showed 100% specificity and sensitivity.
