Morphometric Analysis of Dry Human Mandibles of Sri Lankans

Introduction: Variety of mandibular morphometric measurements determines the population and sex differences of facial skeleton. This study is aimed to determine the mandibular morphometric measurements of Sri Lankan population.

Materials and methods: Thirteen different mandibular measurements were obtained in 75 dry mandibles of which the gender and age were determined referring to the standard literature. Optimum measures were undertaken to reduce the intra and inter observer bias. The data were analysed using Minitab 19 version. Mean ± SD, mean difference and P- value of each morphometric parameter for both sexes were analysed separately by using Minitab 19 version.

Results and discussion: The sample consisted of 40 male and 35 female mandibles, age ranging from 60 – 80 years with the mean age of 67.545 ±4.36765. The mean value of each morphometric parameter in males were higher except in the mandibular angle and the height and breadth of the mandibular body. The maximum mandibular length, bigonial width, maximum ramus height, bicondylar breadth, bicoronoid breadth, bimental breadth and mandibular notch depth of males showed statistical significance (P<0.05). The mean values of all the parameters were different from values of the different populations.

Conclusions: Mandibular morphometric characteristics of Sri Lankans showed distinctiveness within the population and a direct relationship with the sex. These findings provide information for objective assessment facial skeletons of Sri Lankans.