Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology最新文献

Aim: To analyze the morphological parameters of palatal rugae in a population of Maharashtrian ancestry.

Material and methods: This study was conducted on 1000 subjects of Maharashtrian ancestry with at least 3 generations on the mother's and father's side. Their palatal impressions were obtained with alginate and the casts were analyzed for length, shape and direction of palatal rugae.

Results: Our results showed that the most predominant rugae were primary followed by secondary and fragmentary with significant differences between them. The most prevalent rugae shapes found were straight followed by wavy followed by curved with significant differences between them. According to direction, forward rugae were significantly higher than perpendicular rugae and backward rugae.

Conclusion: The rugae are considered to have population specific configurations. This baseline data of patterns of palatal rugae in a sample of Maharashtrian ancestry may serve `as an accessory tool' for population identification in Forensic Dentistry.

Background: Forensic Odontology (FO) still strives for recognition in some countries such as Pakistan. Natural and man-made disasters, along with child abuse cases and age estimation for child marriages and juvenile imprisonments in Pakistan justify its applicability.

Aims: This study investigated the awareness, information, training, practice and interest in FO in dental professionals in Pakistan. Another aim was to design tools to deliver primary knowledge about FO and emphasize the importance of dental records.

Methodology: A 10 question paper-based survey was distributed among 560 dental professionals and postgraduates of 14 public dental institutes/hospitals in Pakistan. The results were quantitatively analyzed by graphs using Microsoft Excel (version 16.22). An educational video and an information leaflet were produced after the survey was undertaken to explain the scope of FO and the importance of dental records respectively.

Results: 476 dentists (51%♀, 49 %♂) aged 20 - 50+ years responded and 98.53% confirmed that FO was not taught in the dental schools. 66% were aware of the field and 62% were only informed. 99% were not trained and 89.7% were not working in this field; however, 89% were interested in training within Pakistan. Considering dental charts, 60.92% do not produce detailed charts but 55% maintain them and the majority do so manually. Radiographs were the most stored type.

Conclusions: Most dentists are aware of the existence of FO, but they need to acknowledge the significance of dental record keeping and encourage implementation of FO. Regardless of the absence of any governing body for FO and negligible education, training and implementation in Pakistan, this field is gradually progressing. The authorities should introduce detailed guidelines for recording, managing and storing dental records. They should ensure the future acknowledgement of this subject in the education system and assign forensic odontologists to the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.

Background: In contemporary forensic practice, Medicine and Dentistry combine forces to improve the search for the cause of death and human identification. The pink tooth phenomenon (PTP) is a cadaveric sign that allegedly manifests more often in victims of asphyxia. However, the scientific literature is scarce and controversial on this aspect.

Objective: This study aimed at screening victims of mechanical asphyxia in order to search for post-mortem pink teeth.

Material and methods: Retrospectively, autopsy reports from a local medico-legal institute in South Brazil were revisited in the search for victims of death by asphyxia. Autopsy reports of twenty one victims aged between 6 and 67 years (mean age: 40.6 years ±19.20; median: 37 years) were found and analyzed.

Results: The different modalities of asphyxia included drowning (n=7; 33.33%), strangulation (n=1; 4.76%) and hanging (n=13; 61.91%). A single case of PTP was detected (4.76%) - a 26-year-old male victim of hanging.

Conclusion: This study illustrates and highlights the unspecific aspect of the PTP. In practice, forensic experts must avoid interpretations of this phenomenon as conclusive evidence of the cause of death, such as asphyxia by drowning, strangulation or hanging.

Patient safety and quality of healthcare delivery systems are an objective of WHO. This study aims to present and analyse Portuguese clinical data on risk and malpractice in dental practice. Data from the Forensic Dentistry Laboratory (Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra) was analysed, between the years of 2013 to 2018. One hundred and seven technical reports were selected, and seventy nine files were included in the iatrogenic sequelae group. Data included the analysis of the performance of dental professionals. Sequelae were divided in descending order of occurrence:1) mandibular dysfunction (53,2%)[(42)79]; 2) neurological deficit (39,2%)[(31)79]; 3) tooth loss (6,3%)[(5)79]; and 4) opening deficit (1,3%)[(1)79].Three major areas with significant expression in the field of expert evaluations were analysed: 1) orthodontic treatment (51,9%), implant rehabilitation (29,1%), and oral surgery. Given the prevalence of malpractice, the need to assess its causes and recognise standards for its prevention is necessary.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the accuracy of two age estimation methods in Indian children by using the open apex method proposed by Cameriere et al and the London Atlas of Tooth Development.

Materials and method: Three hundred and thirty five archived digitised panoramic radiographs of healthy children (165 males and 170 females) in the age group of 5 to 15.99 years were retrieved and analysed. The observations were entered in the SPSS software (Version 19.0). The paired t-test and independent samples t-test were applied to assess the differences between chronological and estimated age in both genders.

Results and conclusion: Inter-observer reliability was found to be excellent with Cronbach Alpha to be 1.000 and 0.997 for Cameriere's and London Atlas age estimation methods respectively. The difference of 0.59 years (SD ±1.32 years) was highly significant and indicated a consistent underestimation of age using Cameriere's method. While, applying the London Atlas, the difference of -0.03 years (SD± 0.69 years) was not significant and indicated a little overestimation of age. No significant difference was observed for both genders with the methods. Our results revealed that the methods are reliable for age estimation in Indian children, however, the London Atlas is simpler to use and is more accurate than Cameriere's method.

Non-metric Dental Crown Traits are a principal source of information in forensic dentistry. However, inadequate data on the prevalence of these traits prompted this study to determine the frequency, sexual dimorphism and degree of inter-trait association in two different populations of India. Dichotomized data on the existence of non-metric features were recorded among individuals from Odisha (n=506) and Kerala (n=536) between 15 to 30 years of age. Cusp of Carabelli is the most common trait to occur (48 %) followed by shovelling of incisors (15%) and Bushman canine (14%). Bushman canine (p=0.045) and Cusp of Carabelli (p = 0.041) were found to be significantly expressed in Odisha and Kerala populations respectively. A strong association between shovelling of central incisor and Bushman canine with a likelihood ratio of 14.041 (p=0.001) was observed. This study will help in characterizing the Indian dentition and post-mortem dental profiling.

The Covid 19 pandemic we are currently facing all over the world is undoubtly an emergency condition which exposes all workers to the risks of a serious infection. The personnel working in the autoptic room is at high risk for the possible contact with infected material from corpses, splashes and aerosols diffusion, and must be always prepared to stay safe and healthy. We offer to the forensic odontologists' community a short summary of some old and new hints on the treatment of dead bodies in the autopsy room during this pandemic emergency time.

Objectives: The study aims to determine the correlation between dental age and chronologic age in the assessment of third molar development among Filipino patients aged 9 to 23 years seen in the Paediatric Dentistry Division (PDD) of the Philippine Children's Medical Centre (PCMC) between 2012-2017.

Materials and methods: 384 digital panoramic radiographs of Filipino patients (215 males and 169 females) were gathered. Right mandibular third molars were assessed using Modified Demirjian Scoring System. Mean Absolute Error, Percentage error and Correlation is determined between dental age (DA) and chronologic age (CA) of the population.

Results and conclusion: Initial development of the third molars is observed to begin at approximately 9 years of age and root completion commences at around 19 years of age. Using Spearman Rank-Order Correlation, a strong positive correlation between CA and DA was observed among the overall population (r=0.9518). The observed correlation was stronger among females (r=0.9595) compared to males (r=0.9445). All correlation coefficients were significant (p-value<0.0001). Low percentage error among males and females is observed indicating no significant difference between the CA and DA values of the population.

Sex determination, which is based on the existence of dimorphism between specimens of the same species, plays an important role in the process of human identification. In the absence of pelvic elements, the skull appears to be the best sex indicator, and can also be submitted to quantitative or metric assessments. Eleven measurements were taken for this study, four in the sagittal plane and seven in the horizontal, in two groups of 186 skulls each, with 101 from males and 85 from females for those of the sagittal plane, and 100 and 86, respectively, for those concerning the horizontal, of subjects aged between 18 and 94 years at the time of death. The sample belongs to the Osteological and Tomographic Biobank Professor Doctor Eduardo Daruge of the Piracicaba Dental School of the University of Campinas. The aim of this research was to establish a reliable method to determine sex and elaborate mathematical prototypes capable of assisting in investigation or identification activities, in a preliminary study. Of the measures implemented (Lambda-Nasion, Lambda-Rhinion, Lambda-Nasospinale, Rhinion-Nasospinale, Zygomaxillare-Zygomaxillare, Lambda-Incisive Foramen, Lambda-Right Zygomaxillare, Lambda-Left Zygomaxillare, Basion-Incisive Foramen, Basion-Right Zygomaxillare and Basion-Left Zygomaxillare), only the Lambda-Nasospinale and Rhinion-Nasospinale in the sagittal plane, and the Zygomaxillare-Zygomaxillare and Lambda-Incisive Foramen in the horizontal plane, were significantly dimorphic. Two predictive mathematical models of sex were conceived for each pair of them: one of logistic regression and another of conditional inference trees, displaying accuracy rates of 78.5% and 77.42%, and of 68.28% and 72.04%, respectively. The authors concluded that there is the possibility to apply the aforementioned data in forensic anthropology as an auxiliary tool in investigation or identification tasks.

The usefulness of teeth for personal identification lies mainly in their vast individual variability, making them virtually unique for every subject. Odontological identification represents a reliable and important complement to forensic inquiries, in particular in the event of unidentifiable human remains. However, this technique is based on the availability of ante-mortem records containing significant evidence. In the absence of dental records, the only available ante-mortem elements are often photographs. In the present study, dental profile photographs of selected smiling subjects were compared to the relevant plaster study models through digital image analysis. In order to ascertain the reliability of the technique, the comparison was carried out both in a homologous and heterologous manner with the Facecomp software. The results confirm the ability of Facecomp software to identify even the smallest variations in dental elements to reach a positive identification. The method is useful in forensic practice since a forensic inquiry may obtain plaster models from cadavers for comparison with photographs of missing people's anterior teeth.