Sex Determination with a Discriminate Function Analysis of Deciduous Teeth Size in Plaster Models

Abstract

There have been many reports on sex determination using permanent teeth. However, there have been only a few reports on sex determination using deciduous teeth. Plaster models of the teeth of 3-year-old Japanese children (96 males, 98 females) were used to record the crown length, crown width and crown thickness of 5 maxillary and 5 mandibular deciduous teeth (30 measurement values). Furthermore, a number of practical formulae were derived from only the crown width and crown thickness values because the were of deciduous teeth in children 4 years and older progresses rapidly, making the crown length measurement unreliable. These formulae were calculated for the maxillary teeth alone and mandibular teeth alone. The formulae based on only the crown width or thickness were also calculated for both maxillary and mandibular teeth. A step-wise discriminate analysis was then used to ascertain the most reliable measurements and a practical formula subsequently devised.