Morphometric Study of the Mandible in Adult Yoruba Individuals: Implications for Forensic and Reconstructive Surgery

The mandible is a diagnostically informative bone in forensic anthropology, used for sex determination, age estimation, and ancestry assessment. Its morphometric parameters also guide the design of mandibular prostheses, the placement of dental implants, and orthognathic surgical planning. Despite the clinical and forensic utility of mandibular data, normative morphometric information specific to the Yoruba ethnic group remains limited. This study aims to document mandibular morphometric parameters including total mandibular length, symphyseal height, bigonial width, ramus height, and condylar width among adult Yoruba volunteers in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. Measurements will be obtained from dental panoramic radiographs and dry mandibles from the anatomy department collection. Data will be stratified by sex and age, with statistical methods applied to determine discriminant functions for sex estimation. The study anticipates contributing Yoruba-specific mandibular morphometric data to the forensic and clinical anatomy literature, supporting the development of locally applicable forensic identification protocols and improving outcomes in mandibular reconstructive surgery.

Keywords: mandible morphometry, Yoruba, forensic anatomy, sex determination, orthognathic