Study of Sex Determination of Human Mandible Using Metrical Parameters

Abstract

Introduction: Sex determination from skeletal remains is a cornerstone of forensic anthropology and medico-legal investigations. Among cranial bones, the mandible is particularly valuable due to its dense structure, resistance to postmortem degradation, and pronounced sexual dimorphism. Its morphometric features—especially bigonial breadth and bicondylar breadth—offer measurable parameters that can aid in distinguishing male from female remains. Present study aims to evaluate the role of bigonial and bicondylar breadth in sex determination using adult dry human mandibles

Materials and Methods: Present study is a cross-sectional study. 107 adult dry, complete, undamaged human mandibles available in the Anthropology Museum of Department of Anatomy were collected. Bigonial (straight distance between two gonia) and Bicondylar Breadth (straight distance between the most lateral points on the two condyles) were calculated in all. After all the measurements were done, observations in the male and female bones were statistically analysed

Observations and Results: Out of 107 mandibles, 26 (24.3%) were classified as male based on bigonial breadth. Among these, only 17 were actually male, yielding a male sensitivity of 27.87%. Conversely, 81 mandibles (75.7%) were classified as female using the same parameter. Based on bicondylar breadth, 32 mandibles (29.9%) were classified as male. Of these, 30 were correctly identified as male, yielding a male sensitivity of 49.18%. The remaining 75 mandibles (70.1%) were classified as female, among which 44 were truly female, resulting in a female sensitivity of 95.65%. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that while both bigonial and bicondylar breadths exhibit sexual dimorphism, bicondylar breadth is markedly more reliable for sex determination, particularly in female classification (95.65% sensitivity).