Gender Determination using Mandibular Ramus Flexure in Chennai Population - A Retrospective Study on Digital Panoramic Radiographs

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate mandibular posterior flexure's validity and predictive accuracy in gender determination on digital panoramic radiographs. The objective of the study is to correlate the flexure of the posterior border of the ramus with that of gender.

Methods: The study was conducted on 200 digital panoramic images taken in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology. Each image was examined and analyzed by an individual observer based on Loth and Henneberg's 1996 criteria for the presence of mandibular ramus flexure on the posterior border of the ramus at the level of the occlusal plane. The scoring was assigned separately for the right and left mandibular ramus flexure and a total score was given for each panoramic radiograph obtained from adult male and female subjects.

Results: In the present study, we observed the overall predictive accuracy using mandibular ramus flexure to be 80% in the gender determination. A Kappa value of 0.601 was obtained and the predictive accuracy was higher for females than males.

Conclusion: Mandibular ramus flexure showed a substantial predictive accuracy, making it a viable tool for aiding gender determination in forensic dentistry. To enhance gender identification accuracy, it is advisable to incorporate a comprehensive set of parameters like maximum ramus breadth, maximum ramus height, coronoid height, projective ramus height, along with mandibular ramus flexure.