Mapping the Use of Mandibular Morphometry for Forensic Age and Biological Sex Estimations in Modern Humans: A Review

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Background: Anthropology relies on the morphological and metric characteristics of bone structures to estimate an individual’s biological traits. The mandible is considered a reliable bone for estimating age and biological sex. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to map and identify the mandibular morphometric parameters used to estimate age and biological sex in modern humans. Methodology: Guided by the methodological framework proposed by literature, this study presents a scoping review of journal articles published between 2004 and 2024. Results: The majority of included publications (43/74; 58.11%) were published after 2020. Most publications were published in India (24/74; 32.43%), then in Türkiye (8/74; 10.8%) and Brazil (7/74; 9.46%). Only 9/74 (12.16%) of the publications originated from the African continent, and notably, 5/74 (6.76%) and 3/74 (4.05%) focused on Egyptian and South African datasets, respectively. Analysis of the keywords revealed that “sex” was the primary keyword in 42 articles (56.8%), followed by “forensic” and “mandible”, each appearing in 30 articles (40.5%). The most common modality used for data collection was panoramic radiographs (33/74; 44.59%), followed by CBCT at 22/74 (29.73%), CT at 9/74 (12.16%) and dry mandibular bones at 9/74 (12.16%). The mandibular ramus was the most frequently studied morphological trait in the publications analysed (39/74; 52.70%). Four themes were identified, with biological sex being the predominant theme (52.70%). Conclusions: The existing literature emphasises mandibular measurements for biological sex estimation. However, the limited focus on age estimation and population-specific variation highlights a need for further investigation to improve accuracy and global applicability.

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