Personal Identification by Morphometric Analyses of Intra‐Oral Radiographs of Unrestored Teeth*

Abstract

The aim of this study was to work out a biometric method for personal identification by comparing simulated antemortem and postmortem digital radiographs of unrestored teeth. Intra-oral radiographs of the inferior right first molar, without restorations, were acquired at two different times in 70 subjects using a standardized technique followed by a morphometric analysis. The program automatically supplied values of the absolute distances, relative distances, shape factors, moments, perimeter values, and the areas of the triangles, which were obtained by joining key reference points. The values for the homologous samples were compared with the heterologous samples. Statistical analysis was then carried out, resulting in a section point value of 0.9992. Higher correlation coefficients indicate positive identification, with less than 2% risk of false positives, and approximately 3% of false negatives. We have also tested the method on dental records from 30 patients in order to demonstrate the specificity and sensitivity of the system.

Human Identification via Lateral Patella Radiographs: A Validation Study,

“…Many skeletal elements have been studied for their utility in identification using comparative radiography. The variety of standard radiographic angles used in imaging the skull makes it a common area of focus . And although the value of infracranial loci has long been acknowledged, research on the remainder of the skeleton is only just beginning to gain attention in response to the Daubert ruling.…”

A novel method for landmark-based personal identification on panoramic dental radiographic and computed tomographic images

“…Several studies have examined the use of intraoral X-ray images for victim identification [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. However, a number of limitations have been encountered in victim identification that focuses on dental work alone.…”

A Large‐Sample Test of a Semi‐Automated Clavicle Search Engine to Assist Skeletal Identification by Radiograph Comparison

“…Radiographic comparison for identification is a well-established method in legal medicine (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9), being widely employed in forensic pathology (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), odontology (18)(19)(20)(21), and anthropology (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). As these studies show, the methods work particularly well when search universes otherwise termed identification universes (29) are small.…”