661 Int. J. Morphol., 35(2):661-666, 2017. The Morphometry of the Angle of Mandible and its Correlation with Age and Sex in the eThekwini Metropolitan Region: A Panoramic Study Morfometría del Angulo de la Mandíbula y su Correlación con Edad y Sexo en la Región Metropolitana eThekwini: Un Estudio Panorámico S. Pillay 1 ; S. Ishwarkumar 1 ; B.Z. De Gama 1 & P. Pillay 1 PILLAY, S.; ISHWARKUMAR, S.; DE GAMA, B. Z. & PILLAY, P. The morphometry of the angle of mandible and its correlation with age and sex in the eThekwini metropolitan region: A panoramic study. Int. J. Morphol., 35(2):661-666, 2017. SUMMARY: The angle of mandible is formed by the tangent line joining the posterior margin of the ramus and the base of the mandible. The angle of mandible has population-specific characteristics therefore; it is imperative to the field of forensic anthropology for age and sex determination. Literary reports regarding the use of the angle of mandible for age and sex determination vary, as some studies support it, while other studies have documented inefficiencies. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to document the morphometry of the angle of mandible and to determine if a correlation between the angle of mandible, age and sex exists. Sixty four digital panoramic radiographs (n=128) of individuals between 16-30 years were morphometrically analysed using the Dicom Digital Imaging Software. The data was captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 23.0). Despite females having a greater angle of mandible than males, no statistically significant correlation was found between the size of the angle of mandible and sex (p=0.088). The angle of mandible was observed to decrease with advancement of age, however only the 16-19 year age cohort displayed a statistically significant correlation with the size of the angle of mandible (p=0.006). Therefore, this study concluded that the angle of mandible may not be a useful indicator of sex, but may be a reliable indicator of age for individuals between 16-19 years in the eThekwini Metropolitan region. KEY WORDS: Angle of mandible; Age; Sex; Mandible; Morphometry. INTRODUCTION The mandible is the second most durable bone of the body and is the most resilient in unfavourable conditions (Oettlé et al., 2009). The angle of mandible is formed by the tangent lines of the posterior border of the ramus and the base of the mandible (Drake et al., 2010; Leversha et al., 2016). It is an important landmark of the mandible and is commonly used in forensic science for age, race and sex identification (Upadhyay et al., 2012). However, controversy exists with regard to the use of the angle of mandible in forensic science, specifically in age and sex determination (Upadhyay et al.). The literature revealed that the angle of mandible may be an accurate cephalometric tool for population-specific age and sex identification (Singh et al., 2015). Conversely, Oettlé et al. and Upadhyay et al. reported the angle of mandible to be an inefficient tool for the determination of age and sex, since there are countless factors that influence its development, viz. diet, dentition and population-specific characteristics. Furthermore, the literature reviewed has documented that the size of the angle of mandible decreased from birth to adulthood and increased from adulthood to old age (Schuenke et al., 2004; Lipski et al., 2013). On the contrary, Leversha et al. reported a steady increase in the size of the angle of mandible with advancement in age. In South Africa, the crime rate is continuously increasing (Crime Stats, 2017) with 17805 individuals 1 Clinical Anatomy School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences College of Health Sciences University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville Campus Private Bag X54001 Durban, South Africa.