Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Gonial Index (GI) is a radiomorphometric measurement of gonial cortical thickness of the mandible i.e. the thickness of the inferior cortical border in the region of mandibular angle. Objectives: To examine the correlation of gonial index/gonial cortical width with age and gender in a group of North-Indian population of Haryana. Methods: 60 adult human orthopantomographs  were evaluated and divided into six age groups (35-65 years) with equal number of males and females. Gonial Index was measured bilaterally on every radiograph. The measurements were analyzed for interactions with age and sex, using SPSS (Stastistical Package for Social Studies) software version no. 18. The tests employed were Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and the unpaired T-test. Results:  The male mean gonial index values ranged from 1.92 mm ± 0.307 to 2.48 ± 0.448, whereas the female mean gonial index values ranged from 1.69 mm ± 0.329 to 2.17 mm ± 0.264. Gonial index showed no correlation with age in both the sexes. Female gonial index values were lower than males in majority of the age groups. Sexual dimorphism was also recorded as the difference between the mean gonial index values of males and females was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The gonial index remained independent of age, but it was influenced by the variations of gender to a significant extent.