Determination of age, sex, and blood group from a single tooth.

BACKGROUND: Human identification is one of the most challenging subjects that human has been confronted with. Through the ages, odontological examinations have been a critical determinant in the search of human identity. Data in the form of age, gender, and blood group might provide vital clues in such investigations. In the recent times, it has been often desirable to preserve tissues for further investigations following the unfolding of certain events or discovery of new data. Hence, it is important to gather as much data as possible using less tissue.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine age, sex, and ABO blood group of individual from a single tooth, to determine the effect of different environmental conditions, and to extract maximum information also at the same time preserving some tissue for the further investigation whenever needed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study sample consisted of sixty teeth divided into four groups under different environmental conditions and time. The teeth were sectioned longitudinally in the buccolingual plane along the midline. Longitudinal ground sections of each tooth were prepared for age determination from cemental lines. Pulp removed was divided into two halves thereafter sex and blood group was determined.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: For correlation of age between estimated age and actual age, using cemental lines Pearson's correlation coefficient was applied. Further for determination of both sex and blood group between groups, Chi-square test was applied.

RESULTS: A strong positive correlation was found between the estimated age and actual age of the study groups. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the actual and determined sex and blood group of the study groups.

CONCLUSION: Although age, sex, and blood group are more reliably determined in freshly extracted teeth, these variables may be of significant help in identification even after a period of 6 weeks postextraction.