Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology最新文献

Objective of work: The aim of this study was to determine the most frequent injuries and their relationship with gender, age and aetiology. Materials and Methods: An Epidemiologic Systematic Review was carried out, in the databases PUBMED and Scopus, between 2010-2020. We used Joanna Briggs Institute Checklist to access the Risk of Bias and Grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and the evaluations (GRADE) method was applied to assess the quality of the evidence of the 78 included articles. Results and Conclusions: Out of the 78 articles included, 14 were classified as moderate-risk bias and 58 as low risk. Only 20.5% had a prospective design and the male/female ratio ranged from 0.299 to 11.83. The majority of the studies described fractures (67) and only 26 reported dental injuries. The studies were distributed into five regions of countries: Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Muslin regions. The results showed that road traffic accidents (55.37%) were the most frequent type of trauma, followed by assault (17.56%) and falls (10.21%). Fractures were the most prevalent injuries (84.3%). It was possible to establish an association between road traffic accidents and Asian countries. Assaults were more frequent in Africa, predominantly males, whilst falls increased with age, amongst women, in European countries. Fractures were usually observed in Muslin regions.

Background: Estimating the age at death is a common procedure in the fields of forensic human identification and anthropological/archaeological investigations. Root translucency and periodontosis are regressive parameters used to estimate the age of adults, more specifically in Lamendin's method - established in 1992 in a French population. This study aimed to test the applicability and validity of Lamendin's method in a Brazilian osteological collection.

Methods: The sample consisted of 74 single-rooted teeth obtained from 50 skeletal remains (mean age: 53.20 ± 16.17 years) from Southeast Brazil. Lamendin's method was applied to enable a comparison between chronological (CA) and estimated ages (EA). A new population-specific equation was designed for the studied sample and the outcomes were compared with those obtained with Lamendin's original equation.

Results: The original methods led to a general underestimation of 11.32 years (8.83 years in males and 15.91 years in females). The method had a better performance among individuals between 40 and 59 years (mean differences between CA and EA: 4.8 years). The population-specific equation led to a mean overestimation of -2.04 years in males, and a mean underestimation of 3.77 years in females. Underestimations were considerably higher in other age groups.

Conclusion: Despite the apparent improvements, both the original and the population-specific equations revealed coefficients of concordance that were constantly low between CA and EA. These outcomes suggest restrictions to the application of Lamendin's method in the forensic field, especially for human identification. The method, however, seems to be applicable for anthropological/archaeological applications.

Forensic odontology is a young area in India. However, it has been used as an integral component in a various medicolegal cases in India. However, the involvement of a dentist in mass disasters still needs to be well recognized. The role of the dentists in any unforeseen circumstances is to contribute as an adjunct hand in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) which is in an emergent stage in India. This study aimed to assess an Indian dental professional's knowledge and awareness of their role in DVI. A pre-tested, self-administered anonymous questionnaire consisting of 6 open-ended and 14 close-ended questions was mailed to the participants. A total of 441 responses were recorded. The study indicated adequate knowledge and awareness among dental practitioners. Conversely, only a handful of people had first-hand autopsy experience. Thus, to supplement the skills needed to work at ground zero, it is recommended to develop hands-on training programs for dentists in each state of India. Also, creating a pool of experts in each state of India can strengthen the task force.

The forensic role of microbiology in bite mark analysis as evidence in a court of law has not yet been explored, as the analysis of bite marks is mostly morphology-based. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate if the analysis of the oral microbiota may be helpful as a complementary forensic tool. Articles were searched on the PubMed database, using predefined data fields and keywords. The final selection included a total of 6 papers (out of 42). Our results indicated that the Streptococcus genus is a key player in the analysis of bite mark microbiology from a forensic perspective and its genomic analysis may facilitate the association of a bite mark to the perpetrator. However, much more research is still needed before this forensic strategy can be applied in real scenarios. There is a need to optimize and standardize the methods of microbiome analysis and to determine several factors that may influence the results, such as the frequency of bacterial genotypes in the human population and the temporal stability of the oral microbiome on human skin.

Age estimation is an inescapable part of every identification process. During growth and development, it is possible to estimate age based on the developmental stages of teeth. The aim of this study was to evaluate three frequently used methods for dental age estimation on a broad sample of Croatian children. The sample comprised 1996 digital, standardized orthopantomograms of children (1121 boys and 875 girls) aged 5 to 16, collected in four major Croatian cities. Age was estimated according to the Demirjian, Willems and Haavikko methods and the accuracy of the estimation was evaluated. The Kappa for intra-examiner agreement was 0.83 for the Haavikko stages and 0.92 for the Demirjian stages. Using the Demirjian method, the average overestimation of age was 0.80 years for boys and 0.84 years for girls. The Willems method overestimated the mean age by 0.41 years in boys and 0.22 years in girls. The Haavikko method underestimated the mean age by 0.60 years in boys and 0.80 years in girls. The Willems method proved to be the most accurate and can be used for dental age estimation among Croatian children. The Demirjian and Haavikko methods showed greater deviation between dental and chronological age and require adaptation when used in the Croatian population.

The main intention of this article was to evaluate the reliability of root dentine translucency (RDT) and the width of cementum (CW) in indicating the age over 55 years in forensic and criminal investigations. 600 non-restored, single rooted teeth (300 males and 300 females) which were extracted for periodontal or orthodontic reasons were collected. Each tooth was sectioned longitudinally until the desired thickness (250 µm) was obtained. Both the length of the RDT and CW were measured from these unstained ground sections of teeth using ImageJ computer software. Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated a very strong and positive correlation for RDW and CW with age in both sexes. Cut-off values of RDT= 7.07 and CW= 52.06 were obtained using the maximum Youden's index. The value for the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.987 for RDT and 0.910 for CW was seen as indicating a very high discrimination. The performance of these cut-off values was tested in a separate sample of sectioned teeth (n= 300) and was analyzed using contingency tables in both sexes. The sensitivity was 88.2% and 92.3%, while specificity was 98.9% for RDT in males and females. For CW, the sensitivity was 96.1% and 90.3%, and specificity was 76.7% and 74.4% in males and females, respectively. Bayes post-test probability was 98.9% for RDT in both sexes, while 80.5% in males and 78% in females, for CW. Based on our study findings, it can be concluded that both variables have performed well in predicting the age over 55 years. Further research concerning the radiographic study of secondary dentine deposition to predict legal age thresholds would be a great benefit for living adults who require age estimation in civil proceedings.

Reports of deaths caused by alligators or crocodiles are rare in the literature. These deaths may be related to sharp force trauma caused by the teeth of these animals, with or without mutilation, or even drowning after seizure and submersion of the victim. It is difficult to forensically identify bodies in cases of mutilation of the upper limbs during the attack or when the corpse is in an advanced stage of skeletonization. Smile photographs are an important source of ante-mortem references for comparison. We report a human identification based on a photograph of a victim, with the absence of limbs caused by an alligator attack and the advanced skeletonization stage due to scavenger fish action in the Amazon within only 36 hours after his disappearance. The description of alligator attacks and the marks observed on the victim's body are essential to help medical and forensic professionals diagnose the injuries found and, consequently, define the cause of death.

The objective of the investigation was to test a technique originating in the United States to verify the accuracy of the ancestry estimate in a sample of Brazilian skulls. The sample consisted of 120 skulls of Brazilian adults from the collection of the Institute of Education and Research in Forensic Sciences (IEPCF), Guarulhos-SP, Brazil, with ancestry determined by routine examination. In the skull, the following structures were analyzed: anterior nasal spine (ANS), inferior nasal aperture (INA), interorbital breadth (IOB) nasal aperture width (NAW), nasal bone structure (NBS), and post bregmatic depression (PBD). The Hefner and Ousley technique was applied to classify ancestry. Data were registered and correctness percentage was obtained. To improve ancestry prediction, Machine Learning techniques were used. Regarding the error of the studied method and the correctness of the complete sample, the study presented a percentage above 50%, with values such as 56.33% for whites and 53.07% for non-whites. The most frequent ANS parameter was marked (37.5%), INA straight (31.7%), IOB wide (38.3%), NAW medium (32.5%) NBS triangular (29.2%), and PBD present (78.3%). The application of the method in the sample of the study showed a limitation to estimate ancestry, suggesting a need for adaptation for its applicability in the Brazilian population.

The popularity of forensic science in recent decades is substantially related to the high rate of watching television programs dealing with the investigation of criminal cases, such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 2000) and the two sequels, "CSI: NY" (CSI: NY, 2004) and "CSI: Miami" (CSI: Miami, 2002). These medical-based TV series portrayed forensic science in a favorable way, encouraging viewers to experience differently this scientific field. Although it is considered a minor social phenomenon, the reality seems to diverge. The aim of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the impact of the "CSI effect" on crime scene management, analysis, and interpretation of evidence on forensic odontology cases. Electronic research was attempted among four (4) different electronic databases from January 2005 to October 2021. After removing articles according to inclusion-exclusion criteria, the final selection resulted in 5 articles. The results indicated that forensic-based TV series provided a sense of plausibility not dependent on factual accuracy. In addition, an increasing pressure on law enforcement personnel and investigators to collect DNA at crime scenes, regardless of whether it was relevant to the case was also observed. The popularity of these TV shows has contributed to growing public interest in forensic science programs and hence the "CSI effect" had a greater impact on individuals who systematically watched such television series.

The aim of this study was to collect soft tissue thickness (STT) values of an Italian population from 12 bone landmarks, to improve the facial approximation process for identification purposes. 100 Italian adults (50 males and 50 females), who had undergone head CT for clinical purposes, were analysed in order to expand the database of the Italian population. Average values, standard deviation and range were collected according to gender and age and the obtained values were statistically analysed in order to evaluate any possible significant difference. Only one landmark was statistically significant associated with sex, females showed significantly higher values for para-zygomaxillary. Two landmarks were statistically significant associated with age, upper incisor and pogonion. The obtained results were compared with the existing literature. Such information can be useful in the forensic craniofacial reconstruction process and can facilitate choosing the most suitable STT values according to osteological analysis of the human remains.