Sexual dimorphism using odontometric indexes: Analysis of three statistical techniques

Sex dimorphism is an important part in the identification process. The teeth are an excellent material for anthropological analysis and it can be considerate a valuable tool for sex determination. This study aims to analyze sexual dimorphism through the dental measures in Brazilian adults using three different statistical methods. The sample consists of maxillary and mandibular plaster models of 200 Caucasoid Brazilian individuals (100 male and 100 female), aged between 20 and 30 years. The mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) diameters were measured of all teeth, excluding third molars. These measurements were performed directly on the plaster models. For statistical analysis we used the software STATA 12.0. Three techniques were performed to check the sexual dimorphism Logistic Regression, Linear Discriminant Function and Function Discriminant KNN. The significance level for all tests was 5%. The study population was composed of 200 research participants. Of this total, 100 were male and 100 were female. The average age was 24.33 years and the average height of 1.69 m. According to the results presented in this study we can conclude that it is possible to check the sexual dimorphism in Brazilian adults through dental measures. No differences were verified between homologous teeth. Dental elements of the male participants had higher averages than those of female participants. The best indicators for evaluating sexual dimorphism were measures of the canines and molars. Multivariate techniques were more accurate and KNN discriminant analysis showed the best results.