Original Article
Background: Dental structures are among the most durable biological tissues and play a crucial role in forensic identification. Sexual dimorphism in dental arch dimensions has been widely studied; however, population-specific data remain limited.
Objective: To evaluate sexual dimorphism in maxillary intercanine, interpremolar, and intermolar widths in a Ghaziabad subpopulation and assess their utility in sex determination.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 50 systemically healthy adults (25 males and 25 females) aged 20–30 years. Maxillary impressions were obtained using alginate and casts were prepared in dental stone. Arch width measurements were recorded using a digital Vernier caliper with 0.01 mm precision. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS (statistics version 25.0); mean differences were assessed using an independent t-test, and ROC curve analysis was used to evaluate diagnostic performance and determine cut-off values. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Males exhibited higher mean values for all parameters. Intermolar width was significantly greater in males (49.48 ± 3.72 mm) than females (46.60 ± 4.34 mm) (p = 0.015). Intercanine and interpremolar widths did not show statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). ROC analysis revealed that mesiodistal canine width demonstrated the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.762), followed by intermolar width (AUC = 0.694).
Limitations: The study is limited by small sample size and restriction to a single geographic population.
Conclusion: Intermolar width and mesiodistal canine width demonstrated better discriminatory potential. These parameters, when used alongside other forensic methods, may improve the accuracy of sex determination.
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