FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY

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• Plays a major role in identification in manmade or natural
disaster – events that result in multiple fatalities that may not
be identifiable through conventional method such as
fingerprints.

• Identifying unknown human remains

• Knowing the ethnicity, age, gender of dead bodies

• In solving crime scenes

• In presenting evidence in court

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 Post mortem records

• Dental investigations that are done in a dead body.

• Teeth and jaw specimens are removed from the body.

Ante mortem records

• Collection of the dental records when victim was alive.

• Radiographs dental casts are obtained from family members

and dentists

These records can be compared for identification of bodies

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 Palatal rugae
• Palatal rugae are ridges on the anterior part of the palatal
mucosa on each side of the mid-palatine raphae, behind the
incisive papilla.

• They are well protected by cheek, lips, tongue and teeth from
outside trauma.

• They are considered unique to an individual.

• They do not change shape with age and reappear after

trauma or surgical procedures.
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 Classification

• According to Lysell on the basis of length of rugae from

midline point of origin to the terminus at distal side:
1. Primary rugae (> 5mm)
2. Secondary rugae (3 - 5 mm)
3. Fragmentary rugae (2 – 3 mm)
{rugae > 2mm are not considered}

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Advantages-

• They are helpful in comparing with ante mortem casts of

victims.

• Being confined in the oral cavity generally remain unharmed.

• Helpful in edentulous patients.

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 DENTAL PROFILING
• Helps in building a post mortem profile.
• Dental profiling includes extracting a triad of information:

1. Ethnic origin
2. Gender
3. Age

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Dental features

• Metric – features that can be measured

• Non metric – features that cannot be measured and are

analyzed as being present or absent.

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 Non metric features are useful in
analyzing ethnic origin of an individual Non metric

• Shovelling- prominent mesial and distal marginal ridges on

lingual surfaces in incisors
• Three cusped maxillary 2nd molar- the distolingual cusp
disappears.
• Winging- bilateral labial rotation of the distal margins of
maxillary central incisors.
• Carabelli’s features- 5th cusp on the mesiolingual cusp.
• Two rooted upper molar
• Two rooted canine
• Three rooted lower molar

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 Metric

1. Sex determination by size of teeth

Males have larger teeth than females

2. Sex determination by DNA

DNA is obtained from the cells of the pulp

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 Gustafson’s method for age estimation

• Method for age estimation based on morphological and

histological changes of the teeth.

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 1. Amount of occlusal attrition
2. Coronal secondary dentin deposition
3. Loss of periodontal attachment
Gustafson’s criteria 4. Cementum apposition in root apex
5. Root resorption at the apex
6. Dentin translucency

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• For each feature score is given from 0 to 3.
• All 6 values are then added to get the final score.
• It was seen that the as the total score rises the age of the
patient increases.

• Age is estimated by using the formula.

Age = 11.43 + 4.56x

• (where x is the total score obtained by adding the 6 values).

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Limitations:

• None of the values could be used alone, except for dentin

translucency
• Training in histological techniques is necessary
• Expensive equipments are required.
• Age range increases for patients above 50 years

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 BITE MARKS

• Definition – a mark caused by the teeth either alone or in

combination with other mouth parts.

• They can be made by humans or animal

• They can be made on tissue, food items or objects.

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 • The bite mark analysis reveals

Bite mark of humans is broad, U shaped and

sometimes circular.
HUMANS Human bite marks have broad central incisors and
narrow lateral incisors

Bite marks of animals are narrow in anterior aspect

and is V shaped and elongated
ANIMALS
Animal bite marks have broad lateral incisors and
narrow central incisors and sharp canines.

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• Human bite marks are usually associated with sex crimes,
violent fights, child abuse and theft.

• Hence matching bite marks to a suspect’s dentition may

enable law enforcers to implicate the suspect in a larger
crime.

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 Classification of bite marks

Cameron and Sims classification

Agent
• Human
• Animal
Material
• Skin, body tissue
• Food stuff
• Other materials

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Webster’s classification
(bite marks on food stuff)

• Type I- food item fractured readily with limited depth of food

penetration. (hard chocolate)

• Type II- fracture of fragment of food item with considerable

penetration of food item. (apple)

• Type III- complete or near complete penetration of the food

item with slide marks. (cheese)

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 Bite mark appearance

• Compression of skin surface due to tooth pressure

• Indentation of teeth seldom persist for more then few
minutes.
• After the disappearance of the indentation brief duration of
edema is seen.
• Once edema subsides subcutaneous bleeding is apparent.

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• When the intensity of bite is great there may be breach in the
epithelium causing bleeding.

• The most extreme form of bite mark injury is avulsion, where

part of the tissue is bitten off.

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 Bite mark evidence collection from victim

• Visual examination
• Photographs
• Saliva swab- potential source of DNA.
• Impressions- vinyl polysiloxane

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 Lip prints (cheiloscopy)

• Wrinkles and grooves present on the lips are called as sulci

labiorum rubrorum.

• The imprint produced by these grooves is known as lip prints

• The examination of lip prints is known as cheiloscopy.

• These lip prints are heritable and individualistic.

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 Classification
Santos classification:
• Simple wrinkles
 Straight line
 Curved line
 Angled line
 Sine shaped curve

• Compound wrinkles
 Bifurcated
 Trifurcated
 Anomalous

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Tsuchihashi classification:

Type I- vertical grooves that run the entire lip

Type I’- vertical grooves that do not run the entire

lip

Type II- branched grooves

Type III- intersected grooves

Type IV- reticular grooves

Type V- grooves that can not be differentiated

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• Lips are divided into quadrants- a horizontal line dividing the
upper and the lower lip and a vertical line dividing right and
left sides.

• Lip prints may be left on crime scene and may help in

investigation.
• Aluminium powder may be used to pick these lip prints.

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Limitations:
• Permanence of lip prints is doubtful
• Major trauma or surgery may alter the lip prints.
• Increase or decrease in size of lips may alter change in lip
prints
• Lip prints may differ in appearance depending on the
application of pressure

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