Cephalic index (CI) and head shape are greatly affected by geographical, sex, age and racial factors. Such data is of great medico legal and forensic importance which indicates that cephalic index can be used as marker of ethnicity. There is less published literature about cephalic index of Punjab population. Hence, we undertook this study to document the cephalometric characteristics and gender differences in cephalic index of Punjabi community. Head length, head breadth and CI were determined for 500 medical students (17–23 years) of Punjab. The mean cephalic index for males was 80.52 and for females 84.32 which was statistically significant. On comparison with the existing literature the Punjabi community can be categorized as Brachycephalic/ Hyperbrachicephalic. This is of immense value in forensic science for facial reconstruction of disputed identity, orthodontics, different oral & maxillofacial surgery or craniofacial surgery, paleoanthropology and phylogeography.
KEY WORDS: Cephalic index; Head-length; Head-breadth; Brachicephalic.
SEEMA & VERMA, P. The study of cephalic index in north Indian popuation. Int. J. Morphol., 34(2):660-664, 2016.
