Mandibular anthropometric measurements assessment on Colombian young adult male corpses, with a Mestizo ancestral pattern with Caucasoid prevalence, as a surgical aid for mandibular reconstruction

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to describe, classify and categorize the mandibular size, based on anthropometric measurements taken from autopsy material from the National Institute ofLegal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of BogotáColombia, determining their correlation with age, height and body mass index, in order to establish extrapolated parameters, useful in mandibular reconstructive surgery. 192 adult bodies were analyzed, which allowed identification through the basic foursome (sex, ancestral filiation, chronological age and height), and without any variation of the normal anatomy due to taxonomic factors.

During the study different variables, classified in three groups, were analyzed; one group included the linear measurements, another one the angular measurements, and the last one, other measurements. The descriptive statistical analysis showed that the average age had a value of 23.9 years with a standard deviation of 3.6. The height variable. included 130 hypsisomes (67.7%), 50 mesosomes (26.0%) and 12 chamaesomes (6.2%). The body mass index variable broke down to 114 bodies with normal weight (59.3%), 61 bodies with overweight (31.7%), 17 obese bodies (8 .8%), and no malnourished bodies.

Three categories were established: class I or that of "average jaws", belonging ro 45.3% of the global total specimens and not characterized by any modality of height. Class II or that of "big jaws", which corresponds ro 15.1% of the total and is associated with taller individuals; and finally, class III or that of "small jaws," corresponding ro 39.5%, associated with individuals of medium height. It was concluded that age, weight and BMI, are factors which do not modify mandibular dimensions, but height does; there are some specific mandibular anthropometric features of the Colombian population that can be taken into account on mandibular reconstruction.