Efficacy of “Dimodent” sex predictive equation assessed in an Indian population

Abstract

Teeth are considered as a useful adjunct for sex assessment and may play an important role in constructing a post-mortem profile. The Dimodent method is based on the high degree of sex discrimination obtained with the mandibular canine and the high correlation coefficients between mandibular canine and lateral incisor mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) dimensions. This has been evaluated in the French and Lebanese, but no study exists on its efficacy in Indians. Here, we have applied the ‘Dimodent’ equation on an Indian sample (100 males, 100 females; age range of 19- 27yrs). Additionally, a population-specific Dimodent equation was derived using logistic regression analysis and applied to our sample.

Also, the sex determination potential of MD and BL measurements of mandibular lateral incisors and canines, individually, was assessed. We found a poor sex assessment accuracy using the Dimodent equation of Fronty (34.5%) in our Indian sample, but the population-specific Dimodent equation gave a better accuracy (72%).Thus, it appears that sexual dimorphism in teeth is population-specific; consequently the Dimodent equation has to be derived individually in different populations for use in sex assessment. The mesiodistal measurement of the mandibular canine alone gave a marginally higher accuracy (72.5%); therefore, we suggest the use of mandibular canines alone rather than the Dimodent method.