Comparative Analysis of Two Methods for the Assessment of Aesthetic Impairment Involving Teeth

Objective: To analyze and compare the effectiveness of two methods designed for the assessment of esthetic impairment in patients with missing teeth. Material and Methods: Two methods were addressed in this study: 7-level scale (7LS) and AIPE-Odonto/Brasil. Both tools are designed to assess esthetic dental impairment in civil and criminal Courts. One-hundred and thirteen dentists used the tools to assess dental esthetic impairment in four mock cases (one male and three females). The outcomes of their analyses were compared with pre-established gold-standard scores. Chi-square test was used to investigate the influence of dentists’ sex, age, time of experience and forensic knowledge with their outcomes. Results: Dentists’ outcomes were closer to the expected gold-standard scores when AIPE-Odonto/Brasil was used compared to 7LS (p < 0.05). Dentists’ sex, time of experience and forensic knowledge were significantly associated with the scores obtained with both tools (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Comparatively, AIPE-Odonto/Brasil was more effective for the assessment of esthetic dental impairment involving missing teeth compared to the 7LS.

Estimating age of Brazilians using the methods of Demirjian and Nicodemo,Moraes and Medici:A comparative analysis

This study proposed to evaluate the precision of Nicodemo, Moraes and Médici method and the method proposed by Demirjian and compare both methodologies in relation to the efficiency and applicability in the Brazilian population. The sample consisted of 124 panoramic radiographs of subjects in the age group from 7 to 16 years old, 66 patients female and 58 male. For the comparison of the genders in relation to the average percentage difference, the t-Student test was considered. In average the method of Nicodemo, Moraes and Médici presented for the female gender an estimated result 14.7% lower than the real age. For the male gender the estimative obtained was that for each year of variation of the real age the method of Nicodemo estimates a variation of 0.48 years, with a confidence interval of 95% given by (0.43;0.54). For the method of Demirjian the result was that for each year of variation of the real age the method of Demirjian estimates a variation of 1.00 year, with a confidence interval of 95% given by (0.85;1.15) for the male gender and 0.96 years, with a confidence interval of 95% given by (0.84;1.08) for the female gender. It is concluded that the Method of Nicodemo, Moraes and Médici tends to underestimate the real age and that as the real age increases this underestimate becomes higher. Now, the method of Demirjian tends to over- estimate the real age in 8.2 months for the male gender and in 7.1 for the female one in average.

Significance of Dental Records in Personal Identification in Forensic Sciences

Forensic odontology is a branch that connects dentistry and the legal profession.One of the members in the forensic investigation team is a dentist.Dentists play an important and significant role in various aspects of the identification of persons in various forensic circumstances.However,several dentists and legal professionals are quite ignorant of this fascinating aspect of forensic odontology.A need was felt to fill this gap.The dental record is a legal document possessed by the dentist and it contains subjective and objective information about the patient.A PubMed search and Google search were done for articles highlighting the importance of dental records in forensic sciences using the key words“forensic odontology,forensic dentistry,forensic dentists,identification,dental records,and dental chart”.A total of 42 articles relevant to the title of the article were found and reviewed.The present article highlights the role of dentists in forensic sciences,their possible contributions to forensics,and the various aspects of forensic dentistry,thus bridging the gap of knowledge between the legal and the dental fraternities.

A dental perspective on the successes and limitations of the disaster victim identification response to the Nepal earthquake

This article describes the forensic odontological analysis of the events of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.It identifies the problems encountered in the aftermath,lessons learned,and prospective future advances aimed at reducing the subjectivity in disaster victim identification(DVI).During a crisis,dental practitioners,particularly forensic odontologists,can make a substantial contribution to DVI,as highlighted in this article.It also promotes best practices in forensic dentistry that may be used by anyone in situations with few resources or people to deal with comparable scenarios.

Use of Intraoral Three-dimensional Images for the Identification of Dental Morphological Traits Related to Ancestry Estimation

Victim identification through dental features is one of the main objectives of forensic dentistry.In circumstances where information regarding antemortem dental records is missing,reconstruction of a biological profile can be useful as a first step toward personal identification.This reconstructive method provides valuable information,namely regarding the individual’s ancestry,through the detection and degree of expression of dental morphological traits,which may help to restrict the number of candidates for identification.Technological advances allowed the development of alternative methods for dental evaluation,that complement or substitute those already in use in clinical practice.Among these,intraoral three‑dimensional(3D)images are increasingly used in dentistry,as they have a high level of accuracy and are easy to obtain and store.However,a fundamental question regarding forensic dentistry is whether they allow recognition and analysis of dental morphological traits in detail,namely those related to ancestry.In this study,we evaluated 20 teeth morphological features using intraoral 3D imaging from 77 individuals from Northern Portugal.Our results showed that it was possible to identify and classify a large part of the main morphological traits used in the estimation of ancestry.As these 3D images present sufficient morphological detail to be classified,we believe that future applications of this technique can be expected in forensic dentistry.