The mental foramen is present on either side of the body of the mandible bone. This foramen transmits mental vessels and nerves. In forensic anthropology, mental foramen may be important for differentiating sex, estimating age and identifying various races based on morphology. The main aim of the present study was to determine the position, shape and diameter of the mental foramen according to sex, age and race by postmortem computed tomography in the Malaysian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 79 dentulous patients (48 males, 31 females) from 3 age groups (18-30 years, 31– 50 years, 51-74 years) were selected for this study, and ten parameters were observed for each mandible. The parameters were divided into two morphological and eight morphometric parameters. The morphometric parameters were measured by using Osirix MD Software 3D Volume Rendering. Results: Results showed that mandibular body length and height were significantly greater in males than in females by independent t-test. (p< 0.05). However, the mandibular body height was found to decrease significantly with age in both sexes by one-way Anova. It was observed that the shape of mental foramen was 45.6% oval and 54.4% rounded. About 44.3% of them were in line with the longitudinal axis of the second premolar tooth. Conclusion: It was concluded that mental foramen may be used for identification purposes, particularly for sex, age and race determination.

Sex determination is one of the main steps in the identification of human skeletal remains. It constitutes an initial step in personal identification from the skeletal remains. The aim of the present study was to provide the population-specific sex discriminating osteometric standards to aid human identification. The present study was conducted on 87 (174 sides) slices of crania using postmortem computed tomography in 45 males and 42 females, aged between 18 and 75 years. About 22 parameters of crania were measured using Osirix software 3-D Volume Rendering. Results showed that all parameters were significantly higher in males than in females except for orbital height of the left eye by independent t test (P<0.01). By discriminant analysis, the classification accuracy was 85.1%, and by regression, the classification accuracy ranged from 78.2% to 86.2%. In conclusion, cranium can be used to distinguish between males and females in the Malaysian population. The results of the present study can be used as a forensic tool for identification of unknown crania.
Classification ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology ; Humans ; Male ; Orbit ; Skull ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

In the article, two co-authors were missing in the author list.

Research in forensic anthropology is recent in Malaysia due to limited access to documented skeletal collections. However, advanced imaging techniques provide virtual bone samples for use in morphometric studies to establish population-specific standards by virtual anthropology. This study examined sexual dimorphism in the subpubic angle using a three-dimensional computed tomography model of the pelvis, in a contemporary Malaysian population. The sample comprised multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 50 male and 50 female adults. Segmentation of the MDCT scans was performed using 3D Slicer, and four landmarks were acquired using Stratovan Checkpoint for the subpubic angle measurement. The technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM, and coefficient of reliability (R) exhibited high reliability in measurements. Results showed that the subpubic angle in males was 68.6°±7.6° and in females 87.4°±6.5°. The subpubic angle in females was significantly larger than in males (P<0.001). Inverse correlation was found between the subpubic angle and age, in both males (r=–0.449, P<0.01) and females (r=–0.385, P<0.01). The overall accuracy of sex estimation using the subpubic angle was 94% (P<0.001). The subpubic angle, with a demarcating point of 78.6°, showed a sensitivity and specificity of 94% in the classification of female individuals. In conclusion, sex estimation using the subpu bic angle is highly accurate, with a high degree of expected sensitivity and specificity in the Malaysian population.