Sex Determination by Metric Analysis of Coronoid and Mental Breadth of the Mandible – Nigerian Study

Aim: This research aimed at investigating the applicability of linear measurements of Bicoronoid (BRB) and Bimental Breadth (BMB) of mandible in sex determination in four geo-political zones in Nigerian.

Study Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study was adopted for this research.

Place and Duration of Study: Anthropometric data were obtained from adult mandibles from selected medical schools across four geo-political zones in Nigeria from January to June 2021.

Methodology: 52 males and 30 females mandibles were used for this study. Bicoronoid Breadth (BRB) and Bimental Breadth (BMB) were measured using vernier caliper and data analyzed using SPSS IBM version 23.0.

Results: Descriptive analysis of BRB and BMB showed higher mean values for males 98.25mm and 45.79mm than females 90.99mm and 44.03mm respectively. Independent t-test analysis of the parameters showed significant sexual difference at 95% confident interval. The discriminant function analysis sufficiently discriminated sex and after cross-validation, BRB accurately predicted 82.7% males and 53.3% females while BMB accurately predicted 84.6% males and 26.7% females.

Conclusion: Bicoronoid and Bimental breadth measurements of mandible are recommended for sex determination in forensic investigation due to its role in sexual dimorphism.