Comparison of the Gonial Angle With Age and Gender Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Images

Introduction The mandible is one of the most important bones used in gender determination in forensic medicine and anthropology. In literature, there are many studies examining the relationship between the gonial angle on the mandible and gender. However, these studies reported different results. This study aimed to measure the gonial angle with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images and investigate the relation of this angle with age and gender. Materials and methods CBCT images of 235 dentate individuals (111 males and 124 females) aged between seven and 77 years were evaluated. The individuals examined were categorized into four age groups: 7-19 years (group I), 20-39 years (group II), 40-59 years (group III), and 60-77 years (group IV). The gonial angle was measured bilaterally in all individuals. Results The mean age of the males was 41.70 +/- 19.14, and the mean age of the females was 39.47 +/- 17.90 years. There was no statistically significant difference between the ages based on gender (p = 0.356). It was observed that there was a statistical difference between the gonial angle and gender in groups II and III. There was no correlation between age and gonial angle in all groups. Conclusion The results obtained in this study and the comparison of these results with the literature clearly show that it is currently not possible to clearly express the relationship between the gonial angle and both age and gender. For this reason, we believe that conducting further studies evaluating both the gonial angle and the relationship between the gonial angle and other anatomical structures on a larger sample can yield more meaningful results.