Journal of Forensic Odonto-stomatology

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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)...

Human identification using Forensic Dentistry occurs through comparative analysis of ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) data. With the constant improvement of technology, photographs became a common source of AM data. When clinical dental records are not available, images showing the smile can be useful in human identification. The aim of this study was to investigate human identification techniques through the analysis of smile images in the available literature. Studies on human identification through the analysis of smile images were searched in the scientific literature...

Sex determination is one of the primary concerns of forensic science. The cranial bones, pelvis, and mandible have been used for determining the sex of specimens. Because the mandible is robust and sexually dimorphic, studies have evaluated its metric and morphological traits. This study was designed as a retrospective study involving cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to assess sexual dimorphism of the mandible in the Turkish population. Total sample group consisted of 176 bimaxillary CBCT scans (71 males and 102 females; ages 19-67 years)...

Child abuse or maltreatment has been a global problem and research shows that more than half of the cases present with head and neck injuries. This study aimed to propose an online referencing platform for dental professionals to know more about signs of child abuse and neglect (CAN) and how suspicious head and neck injuries might look like in real-life scenarios by proposing a 3D design. The study was divided into two parts: i) Integrative literature review, ii) Survey. The first part included an integrative literature review to check if there are enough publications by dentists containing real-life images of injuries related to CAN...

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...

INTRODUCTION: the mandible undergoes changes in morphology and density related to the aging process. These changes are measured by radiomorphometric indices that allow inferring bone density indirectly. Also, the age estimation process in adults is challenging since the modifications in the anatomical structures are gradual and require long intervals of time to be noticeable. OBJECTIVE: this study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of radiomoformometric indices of the mandible in age estimation in adults...

IBackground: Child marriage is recognised as a harmful practice. Recently, Indonesia enacted a new law to raise the minimum age of marriage from 16 to 19 years old for women, creating no minimum age difference between males and females. However, this improvement may be detrimental for individuals in remote areas with no legal documentation and the common practices of age falsification to reach the minimum age of marriage. Therefore, implementing an age estimation technique for juveniles is mandatory to reduce the risk of child marriage...

BACKGROUND: Age estimation by invasive dental methods is a destructive, costly and time-consuming approach, whereas, age estimation methods using dental radiographs are simple, non-destructive and provide reliable information. Age estimation by the Kvaal radiographic method has proven to be a reliable method, but possible ethnic variations may limit its uses in other populations. The objective of this study was to reproduce the original Kvaal method with CBCT for the estimation of the age of the adult melano-African subject in Côte d'Ivoire, in order to propose an age estimation formula, specific to our study population, by taking into account the measurements of tooth and pulp ratios...

The dental radiographic comparison is one of the most reliable and scientifically accepted methods for body identification (ID). The heterogeneity between AM (ante mortem) and PM (postmortem) x-rays images continues to stand as an issue for the forensic odontologist. Casual dental findings on X-rays for investigation of other structures than teeth or maxillaries, could eventually be a relevant source of dental data for the ID especially when AM dental files or X-rays are lacking. Two cases are reported in which the body ID was achieved through the comparison of PM dental X-rays with dental images obtained by radiographies of other structures (e...

The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between the known chronological age and the dental cementum thickness (DCT) in male and female subjects in different age groups. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample consisted of 57 donor teeth of both sexes. Teeth were classified by donors' sex and divided into three age groups: 10-19, 30-39 and 60-69 years. Tooth roots were cut with transverse ground sections in the apical, middle, and cervical thirds. DCT measurements were made on photomicrographs of light microscope...

BACKGROUND: Identifying bodies in a state of putrefaction, skeletonization or mutilation is often difficult. In these cases, it is possible to use auxiliary methods such as forensic facial approximation, considering the possibility of recognition by a relative or acquaintance, helping to obtain ante-mortem data for the identification process. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the capacity of recognition of individuals from digital facial approximation and to verify the association between the level of understanding of the issue by evaluators and the recognition success index...

The mandible undergoes remodelling and morphological alterations throughout the life of an individual, and it is subjected to sex- and age-related structural changes. Personal identification from skeletal remains represents one of the most difficult challenges for a forensic anthropologist. The study of mandibular morphology is an important aid in determining the sex and age of skeletal remains. The objective of this study was to evaluate the age-related changes of three mandibular dimensions through dry bone measurements: bigonial width, ramus height and gonial angle...

India affords special laws and exemptions to minors under the criminal, marriage, labour and administrative laws. Many perpetrators claim to be a minor in the hope of a lenient trial and verdict. The authorities often rely upon forensic experts to provide evidence-based reports. The third molar can be relied upon in the assessment of legal age as it continues developing into the early twenties. The method established by Cameriere et al in 2008 provides an objective method for the accurate evaluation of legal age...

The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of four commonly used methods of dental age estimation in a sample of south Indian adolescents and young adults aged between 14 and 30 years, with an age threshold of 18 years, using receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and the area under the curve (AUC). A total of 1070 orthopantomograms (535 males and 535 females) of adolescents and young adults of south Indian origin were collected retrospectively and interpreted. The effectiveness of each method was evaluated by using sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-) and AUC...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the perspective of using an adapted algorithm for digital images comparison while providing forensic dental identification in complicated fractured skull conditions by ante-mortem and post-mortem radiographical data sets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ante-mortem orthopantomogram and post-mortem peri-apical X-ray images were converted in *.jpeg format with their further import into GIMP 2.10 software (The GIMP Development Team). Segmentation of OPG-image was provided in topographical projections of jaw segments obtained directly from the victim...