Age and Gender Determination Using Maxillary Sinus and Sella Turcica in Forensics-A Lateral Cephalometric Study Subasree S.1, Dharman Sreedevi2 1CRI, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India 2Reader, Department of oral medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India Online published on 27 November, 2019. Abstract Aim To measure the dimensions of sella turcica and maxillary sinus and to determine their relationship with age and gender which will be an aid in forensics. Materials and method 90 lateral cephalometrics images were taken from the Department of Radiology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, consisting of 45 males and 45 females aged between 10 and 40 years with individuals chronological age. The study parameters-sella turcica length, depth and diameter, maxillary sinus height, width and index were measured. The mean values and standard deviation of the sella turcica dimensions, maxillary sinus height, width and maxillary sinus index (MSI) were obtained using paired t test. Discriminant equation was obtained for both the genders. Accuracy of the equation was tested. Mean values of all the parameters were compared with age using Tamhane post hoc tests. Result In the present study the maxillary sinus height was higher in males than females with a statistically significant p value of < 0.049, indicating it to be comparatively a better indicator for sex determination among all the variables. There was no statistical significance between the sella turcica length, depth and diameter with gender. Gender can be predicted using the discriminant functional analysis, with the overall accuracy rate of 65.7%. Maxillary sinus height and width showed good correlation with age between 11–20 years when compared with 21–30 years and 31–40 years age groups but weak correlation between 21–30 years to 31–40 years age groups, whereas MSI showed weak correlation with age among all age groups on Tamhane post hoc analysis. Conclusion Radiography is important in forensic odontology for the identification of humans. Combined use of sella turcica and maxillary sinus using lateral cephalogram will be a useful tool in forensics for sex and age determination. Standardised mean values of all the study parameters obtained can be put into use in identifying the sex and age of the unidentified cadaver in the Chennai population. Top Keywords Maxillary sinus, sella turcica, age, sex determination, lateral cephalometrics. Top |