N. Jagannathan, P. Neelakantan, C. Thiruvengadam, P. Ramani, P. Premkumar, A.Natesan, J.S. Herald & H.U Luder
The present study assessed the suitability of pulp/tooth volume ratio of mandibular canines for age prediction in an Indian population. Volumetric reconstruction of scanned images of mandibular canines from 140 individuals (aged ten – 70 years), using computed tomography was used to measure pulp and tooth volumes. Age calculated using a formula reported earlier for a Belgian sample, resulted in errors > ten years in almost 86% of the study population. The regression equation obtained for the Indian population: Age = 57.18 + (- 413.41 x pulp/tooth volume ratio), was applied to an independent control group (n = 48), and this resulted in mean absolute errors of 8.54 years which was significantly (p<60; 0.05) lower than those derived with the Belgian formula. The pulp/tooth volume ratio is a useful indicator of age, although correlations may vary in different populations and hence, specific formulae should be applied for the estimates
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:1-6)
Stature estimation by Carrea’s Index and its reliability in different types of dental alignment
L. Lima, Y. da Costa, R.Tinoco P.Rabello, E. Daruge Jnr
Stature is a measurable feature of the body, useful in human identification, which may include or exclude an individual from a missing persons list. The aim of this study is to analyze the Carrea¬¥s index for stature estimation in dental arches with normal dentition, crowding and diastema. Plaster casts of 51 students of the Federal University of Paraìba were analyzed. Each hemiarch was divided according to the dental position, and the elements were measured with divider and digital calipers. Considering the normal and crowded dentition, the Carrea’s index presented a satisfactory success percentage, between 72.2% and 95.2%, with no statistically significant difference between sexes or between right and left sides. The presence of diastema reduced the number of matches to less than 62.5%. It was concluded that the Carrea’s index is a reliable method for height estimation in arches with normal and crowded dentitions, useful in males and females, and in the right and left sides. However, the method was not efficient in hemiarches with diastema
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:7-13)
Rugae patterns as an adjunct to sex differentiation in forensic identification
A. Saraf, S. Bedia, A. Indurkar, S. Degwekar, R. Bhowate
It is widely acknowledged that in some forensic situations there are limitations to identification of the deceased by fingerprints, DNA and dental records. Palatal rugae pattern of an individual may be considered as a useful adjunct for sex determination for identification purposes. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the rugae pattern in Indian males and females, as an additional method of differentiating the sexes in various postmortem scenarios. Dental stone casts of 120 Indians: 60 males and 60 females were obtained. The method of identification of rugae patterns was that of Thomas and Kotze (1983) and Kapali et al (1997) which includes the number, length, shape and unification of rugae. Our study revealed no significant difference in the total number or various length measurements of rugae between the two sexes which conforms to previous results. However, in terms of the different types of rugae shape, the converging type of rugae were statistically greater in number in females whilst the circular type of rugae were statistically greater in number in males, which contrasts with earlier studies. The use of logistic regression analysis (LRA) enabled highly accurate sex prediction (>99%) when all the rugae shapes were analyzed. It may be concluded that rugae pattern through the use of LRA can be an additional method of differentiation between the Indian male and female and assist with the identification process in conjunction with other methods such as visual, fingerprints and dental characteristics in forensic sciences
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:14-19)
Establishing the reliability of palatal rugae pattern in individual identification (following orthodontic treatment)
D. Shukla, A. Chowdhry, D. Bablani, P. Jain and R. Thapar
This study aims to determine the stability of palatal rugae before and after orthodontic treatment. 50 orthodontic cases were selected with pre- and postreatment casts and 50 casts were randomly selected as variables. Landmarks on the palatal raphe and rugae were marked on the maxillary casts. Points were made on medial and lateral ends of first, second and third rugae. Each cast was photographed, measured and then trimmed leaving only the rugae area of the hard palate. In the pre and post-treatment group, changes in transverse measurements were significantly different for lateral points of first rugae and anteroposterior changes were significant for the distances between first and second rugae. All inter-point measurements of third rugae were stable in post-treatment casts. Thirty blinded examiners compared 50 trimmed preorthodontic casts to similarly prepared one hundred casts for possible matches based on pattern of rugae. The percentages of correct matches for examiners had a median of 90%. The matching of pre-operative and post-operative orthodontic casts demonstrated that although some changes do occur in the rugae during orthodontic treatment, the morphology of palatal rugae remains stable throughout life. Hence carefully assessed rugae pattern may have a definite role in forensic identification. Further, points associated with the third palatal ruage were the most immutable over a person’s life and hence could be used as a reference to evaluate the changes in teeth positions during orthodontic treatment
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:20-29)
S. V. Tedeschi-Oliveira, M Trigueiro, R.N.Oliveira, R.F.H. Melani
One common parameter considered helpful to identify the origin of bite wounds has been the distance between the canine teeth marks left on the victim. The reliability of this parameter to differentiate the origin of the marks (human or animal) was evaluated using a sample of: a) domestic dogs (n=50) weighting between 4.9 kg and 46 kg of undefined breed and b) human beings (n=50). Dog intercanine distances (ID) were measured directly using calipers, those from the human sample were measured from wax imprints using calipers. It was found that dog bite intercanine distance measurements were overall 2.8% wider for the upper arch and 10.4% wider for the lower arch when compared with the overall result for humans. However, it was observed that the measured values for medium sized dogs (between 9.1 kg and 23.0 kg) are similar to the overall results for humans. Therefore, for this range, the stand alone use of intercanine distance measurements from bite wounds marks are inconclusive with respect of defining if of human origin
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:30-36)
V.Sonika, K. Harshaminder, G.S Madhushankari, J.A. A Sri Kennath
Sexual identification of immature skeletal remains is still a difficult problem to solve in Forensic Anthropology. The aim was to evaluate the existence of sexual dimorphism in maxillary first molars. The base sample comprised 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females) aged 17-25 years. The buccolingual (BL) and mesiodistal (MD) diameters of maxillary first molars were measured using digital vernier calipers both intraorally and on study casts. Data was analyzed using Independent sample t-test and paired t-test. Results showed statistically significant sexual dimorphisms in male and female odontometric features. The mean values of the parameters were greater on the left side than on the right side. Amongst the intraoral group, the right maxillary first molar was found to exhibit the greatest sexual dimorphism (5.34%) in terms of buccolingual dimension. Amongst the study cast group, the left maxillary first molar was found to exhibit the greatest sexual dimorphism (5.54%) in terms of buccolingual dimension. The buccolingual dimensions exhibited greater sexual dimorphism than mesiodistal dimensions. Conclusion: sex determination from an incomplete skeleton or young children may be difficult and in such situations the odontometric features of the teeth can be of immense help in determining the sex
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:37-43)
Case reports and background: difficulties with identification – Sweden –
I. Dawidson
Despite the best conditions such as professional management, all possible aid and means of assistance, along with good legislation, sometimes unexpected factors occur to prevent or at the very least delay identification of the unknown deceased. The specific difficulties in identification cases that involve several countries, as well as problems arising from inconsistencies created in the Antemortem (AM) and Postmortem (PM) files, can obstruct the identification of the recovered human remains. There may be long delays with police procedures whenever a missing person or a dead body has crossed a national border. Also, lack of professional dental investigation can make comparisons difficult or sometimes impossible. Three cases from Swedish files have been used to illustrate such difficulties – there were some parts of the investigations that worked better than others as well as specific problems that arose from the mistakes and delays that occurred. Improving standards and learning from such difficulties may help to minimise future problems
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:44-50)
Efficacy of “Dimodent” sex predictive equation assessed in an Indian population
A. Bharti, P.V. Angadi, A.D. Kale, S.R. Hallikerimath
Teeth are considered as a useful adjunct for sex assessment and may play an important role in constructing a post-mortem profile. The Dimodent method is based on the high degree of sex discrimination obtained with the mandibular canine and the high correlation coefficients between mandibular canine and lateral incisor mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) dimensions. This has been evaluated in the French and Lebanese, but no study exists on its efficacy in Indians. Here, we have applied the ‘Dimodent’ equation on an Indian sample (100 males, 100 females; age range of 19-27yrs). Additionally, a population-specific Dimodent equation was derived using logistic regression analysis and applied to our sample. Also, the sex determination potential of MD and BL measurements of mandibular lateral incisors and canines, individually, was assessed. We found a poor sex assessment accuracy using the Dimodent equation of Fronty (34.5%) in our Indian sample, but the populationspecific Dimodent equation gave a better accuracy (72%).Thus, it appears that sexual dimorphism in teeth is population-specific; consequently the Dimodent equation has to be derived individually in different populations for use in sex assessment. The mesiodistal measurement of the mandibular canine alone gave a marginally higher accuracy (72.5%); therefore, we suggest the use of mandibular canines alone rather than the Dimodent method
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2011;29;1:51-56)
Book review