Online published on 25 November, 2013.
Human identification is one of the most challenging subjects that man has been confronted with. Identification of an individual is a pre-requisite for certification of death and for personal, social and legal reasons. Lip prints and mandibular canine index can also be instrumental in identifying a person and sex differentiation.
to investigate the accuracy with which gender could be differentiated by using lip prints and odontometric measurements of the mandibular canine index in a North Indian population.
The study group consisted of 300 individuals (150 males and 150 females) between the age group of 20–40 years for whom the mandibular canine index was measured. Of these 300 individuals, 250 individuals (125 males and 125 females) were randomly selected for lip print analysis.
The study shows that both mandibular canine index and cheiloscopy are reliable indicators in sex determination. The overall accuracy in sex determination was found to be more by cheiloscopy (86.40%) as compared to mandibular canine index (67.30%).
The discrepancies associated with various methods are to be weighed cautiously to make forensic odontology a more accurate, reliable, and reproducible investigatory science.
Cheiloscopy, forensic, mandibular canine, sex determination
