Ant/prosthodontic courses

INDIAN DENTALACADEMY
Leader in continuing Dental Education
ANTHROPOMETRIC INVESTIGATIONS IN
MAXILLOFACIAL REGION
www.indiandentalacademy.com

CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Characteristics of the individual
 Identification of Skeletalized remains
 Determination of sex
 Determination of age
 Determination of race
 Personal identity
 Odontoanthropology
 Drawbacks
 Conclusion

 Anthrop = Man
 Metron = Measure
 Bertillon System
 Alphonse Bertillon (French Criminologist) –
Introduced name (1882).

Indian Dental academy
• www.indiandentalacademy.com
• Leader continuing dental education
• Offer both online and offline dental
courses

 It is based on the principle that measurements
of various parts of the human body.
 No two persons show the same
measurements in all respects.
 The system is applicable to adults only.(>21
y),
 The dimensions of the skeleton remain
unchanged.

Characteristics of the Individual
Descriptive Data
Color of the Hair,
Eyes,
Complexion,
Shape of Nose,
Ears,
Chin, etc.
Bodily Marks
Birth marks, Moles,
Tattoo marks,
Scars

Body Measurements
Length of the Head
Breadth of the Head
Length of the Face
Breadth of the Face
Length of right Ear
Width of right Ear
 The photographs of the – Front view of the
head
- Profile view of the
right sidewww.indiandentalacademy.com

Facial appearance
 Even in perfectly fresh dead bodies, recognition
may be difficult because of alterations in the
features caused by death.
Hypostasis
Edema
Muscle Flaccidity
Pallor
may all combine to distort the face.
 Recognition in the living is aided by- Facial Muscle
tone
Eye contact &

Eye color
 In the fresh Corpse
Corresponds with the living state.
 Within a few hours
Loss of intraocular tension
Clouding of the Cornea
Iris harder.
 Within a day or two
Collapse of the front of the globe
occurs
Developing decomposition,
Irises tend to darken to brown.

 It is unsafe -
Few days following death or even much
sooner Environmental conditions hasten
decomposition.

Skin Pigmentation
 In undamaged, unputrefied bodies, the major
ethnic differences present in Skin
Pigmentation.
 Slight Melanin of the 'yellow' races of Asia
may be impossible to differentiate from
Mediterranean races.
 After death skin appear pallor and postmortem
hypostasis is present.www.indiandentalacademy.com

When Putrefaction sets in-
 Skin slippage progressively removes the
pigmented layers.
 Eventually pigmentation becomes unavailable
as a marker of identity.
 But histologically melanin may still be visible
in the basal layer of epidermis.

Burnt bodies
 Lose Pigmented skin,
Heat destruction
Deposition of soot
Combustion products on the
surface
Complete obscure all evidence of
pigmentation

Hair color
 The Head, Pubic & Axillary hair is one of the
most resistant identifying features.
 Within 3 months
Brownish-red or Foxy color.
 The color may be obscured by dirt or
staining.
 Biologist or Museum technologist required to
restore the original color.

 Chemical coloration or Bleaching before death
may have to be considered
 Chemical analysis in a forensic science
laboratory may be needed to confirm or
eliminate this.

Hair structure
 Important factors in identity-
The hair ends have been cut or
Naturally pointed.
 Negroid head hair
Dark
Spiral twist with a flattened, elliptical cross-
section.
 Mongoloid hair
Less pigmented
Straight with a cylindrical cross-section.
 Caucasian hair
Great variation in color and morphology
Round or Ovoid in cross-sectionwww.indiandentalacademy.com

 Caucasians -
Eyebrow hair tends to be triangular.
Pubic hair flattened.
 Where a hair root is present - Blood Grouping
- Serological
Criteria
can be
determined.
 The cells of the hair root can give a - DNA profile
-
Mitochondrial DNA
has been detected even in a single hair shaft.

Tattoos
 'ta tau , meaning 'to mark'.
 Deliberate ornamentation of the skin by
introducing pigments under the epidermis
 Ibans races tattooed over much of their body
surface.
 But most countries have localized tattoos.
 The color is pricked into the upper dermis
with a
Needle used manually, orwww.indiandentalacademy.com

 Green - Potassium dichromate
 Red - Mercuric chloride.
 Blue - Aniline-based dyes.
 Blue, Green or Red Colors may be scavenged
by tissue cells.
 Leached into the lymphatic system after a
number of years or decades.
 Black pigments ( ‘C’ particles in the form of
Indian ink), are so resistant as to be virtually
lifelong.
 Some may be transported to regional lymph

 Tattoo can be assigned to some particular
group of people.
(Ethnic, National, Cultural, Religious and
Social practices)
 Bankers and Parsons are less likely to sport
tattoos than seamen and truck drivers.
 Number, often '13', inscribed inside the lower
lip of drug pushers.

 If decomposition start tattoos may be
obscured by wrinkled, peeling epidermis.
 Once the tissues become green and slimy,
then the pattern progressively vanishes,
 But early decomposition is no barrier to
recognition.
 Deliberate removal of tattoos either from
having disfigured the body during youthful or
drunken euphoria, or to remove evidence of
identity.www.indiandentalacademy.com

 Methods -
Surgical excision to scarification with
sandpaper
Caustic soda to electrolysis.
 Damage to the epidermis and dermis, with
consequent inflammation and scar formation.
 Which will itself indicate that something pre-
existed at that site.
 Analysis in a forensic laboratory might
confirm or exclude the tattoo having been
executed by a particular artist in the locality.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Identifying Scars
 Important in the identification, even some
degree of putrefaction exists.
 Scars on the skin may arise from any
previous injury.
 Superficial injuries to the upper layer of skin
will heal without a trace.
 Where the dermis has been entered, healing
occurs by organization of the plug of blood
clot and/or granulation tissue,

 Wound by a surgical instrument, sharp knife
or glass.
 The edges are kept together, especially by
stitches or dressings.
 Resulting scar will be narrow and
insignificant.
 Greater scarring - Gaping or infection
Larger lacerations
Burns
 In relation to identification, scars are of use
only if those thought to be the victims arewww.indiandentalacademy.com

 Large areas of scarring on the face, trunk or
limbs that have parallel grooves and marginal
extensions suggest severe brush lacerations,
probably from a traffic accident.
 The old scars of wrist or throat slashing
indicate previous attempts at suicide.
 Knife stab wounds may scar in an elliptical
fashion.

 Majority of non-surgical scars are the result of
accidental trauma.
 Family, Friends, Photographs or Medical
records indicate the existence of specific
scarred sites on the body
 Then confirmation of identity may be greatly
assisted or confirmed.
 Some scars are deliberately produced as part
of some ethnic or religious tradition.
 Facial scars in some African tribes, as well as
deformed or perforated ear lobes or lips.www.indiandentalacademy.com

 Another class of scars is due to Physical
torture.
Identity by
 Linear Scars,
 Cicatrices of Burns,
 Keloid overgrowth
 Hyperpigmentation
 Depigmentation
 Other persistent lesions
Wherever possible, old hospital records or
the notes of a Family physician should be

Age of scars
 Within a week - The wound is brownish red
and remains vascular for several months,
depending upon its width.
 The pinkness of contained blood vessels
gradually fades and a narrow surgical incision
may be white by 4-6 months.
 The avascular collagen tends to shrink for a
year or so, but is white-silver after a year.
 These times are variable depending on the
nature of the skin, its pigmentation and thewww.indiandentalacademy.com

 Histology to confirm the - Skin mark actually is
a scar.
 Stains for collagen or elastin may confirm the
discontinuity in the dermis.
 Scars do not carry hair follicles, sweat glands
or sebaceous glands.
 Occasionally accessory skin structure may be
present as a result of the inclusion or a viable
fragment of original skin in an irregular wound.

Procedure for identifying bony remains.
 A allotting the bones to general categories
based on absolute criteria concerning
species, race, sex, stature, age and date
When objects thought to be skeletal remains
are found, the following questions need to be
asked
 Are they bones?
 Are they human bones?
 What is the sex?
 What is the stature?www.indiandentalacademy.com

 What is the age?
 How long have they been dead and/or
concealed?
 What was the cause of death?
 Are the remains actually bones?

 Recognition by the shape, texture and weight
of the objects.
 Greater difficulty may be experienced when
simulated human 'bones' are found, but the
abnormal lightness indicated the true nature.
 The recognition of human species is usually
easy, unless marked fragmentation has
occurred.
 First, the size of bones is assessed and many
small, slender bones excluded on obvious
grounds.www.indiandentalacademy.com

 Difficulties arise with smaller bones from
some animals.
 Especially the hands and feet (digits,
metatarsals).
 Several errors have been made in respect of
bear paws, which closely resemble the
human hand.
 Histological examination may offer a species
differentiation or at least to exclude a human
origin.www.indiandentalacademy.com

 Where the animal species is relevant to the
enquiry, then a veterinary or comparative
anatomist must be consulted.
 If the bones are too fragmentary to provide
any anatomical data, then serological
investigations must be attempted.
 These depend on species-specific proteins
being extracted from the bone.

 These proteins mixed with specific antiserum
prepared by immunizing animals against a
range of animal proteins, usually derived from
blood.
 Recognition carried out by Electrophoresis or
Gel diffusion.
 DNA can now identify human tissue, if not the
alternative species.

Cannot be applied to -
 Bones that no longer have extractable
proteins.
 Burnt or cremated bone
 Bone that has been dead for some years.
 Negative result is usually to be expected
after 10 years following death.
Though DNA techniques may be more
sensitive.www.indiandentalacademy.com

DETERMINATION OF SEX

 The accuracy varies with -
Age of the subject
Degree of fragmentation of the
bones
Biological variability.
 Krogman comments that he scored –
100 % accuracy using the whole skeleton.
95 % on pelvis,
92 % on skull,
98 % on pelvis plus skull,
80 % on long bones,
98 % on long bones plus pelvis.

Skull
 The features develop after puberty and are
modified by senility.
 Applicable only b/w 20-55 year.
General appearance.
 The female skull is rounder and smoother
than the rugged male.
Size.
 Male skulls are larger, with an endocranial
volume some 200 ml greater.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Muscle ridges
 More marked in male skulls, especially in
occipital areas where larger muscles are
attached to the nuchal crests.
 Temporal areas for larger masseter and
temporalis muscles.
Supraorbital ridges
 More marked in male skulls and may be
absent in female.
 The glabella is small or absent in the female,
and prominent in the male.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Mastoid process.
 This is larger in male skulls.
Frontal and parietal eminences
 These are more prominent in female skulls,
which resemble the shape in an infant more
than in a male.
Palate
 This is larger and of a more regular U-shape
in men. The smaller female palate tends towww.indiandentalacademy.com

Orbits
 Set lower on the face in the male skull, with more
square and less sharp edges (especially upper
edge) than the female.
Nasal aperture
 This is higher and narrower in the male skull and
has sharper edges.
 The nasal bones are larger and project further
forward to meet at a more acute angle than in the
female.
Forehead
 This is high and steep in the female skull, with a
more rounded infantile contour than the male.

Teeth
 Smaller in the female skull, molars usually
having four cusps. The male often has a five-
cusp lower first molar.
Zygomatic process
 The posterior ridge projects back beyond
external auditory meatus in the male skull.
 The zygomatic arches bow outward more
than the female, where they remain more
medial.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Mandible
 This is large in the male skull, with a squarer
symphysis region.
 Female jaws are more rounded and project
less at the anterior point.
 The vertical height at the symphysis is
proportionately greater in the male.

 The angle formed by the body and the ramus
is more upright in the male, being less than
125°.
 The condyles are larger in the male skull, as
is the broader ascending ramus, and there is
a more prominent coronoid process.
 These sex variations represent the 'typical'
White and, to a great extent, Asian skull.

Sutures and Age
 The use of skull suture fusion as an index of
age.
 Most adults have at least part of their suture
lines closed
 Tends to become more widespread as age
increases.
 This can be useful when skull fragments are
found, as any visible fusion will at least
indicate that the skull came from a maturewww.indiandentalacademy.com

 Sagittal fusion began at 22 y and was
complete by 35 y.
[Dwight , Parsons and
Box (1905)]
 25 % of 18 y had begun closure of their
sagittal sutures
 31- 40 y, - 90 % had some fusion.
 Yet many had no fusion at considerably older
ages.www.indiandentalacademy.com

 Suture closure is not affected by sex, race or
right/left differences.
 Only Endocranial fusion must be studied.
 Determination of age from suture closure is
unsafe: Because –
- Place a skull within the correct
decade only.
- Older material being even more
variable.

 The metopic suture, between the two halves
of the frontal bone, usually closes at about 2
years of age, but occasionally persists into
adult life.
 Radiology can also assist in the determination
of age, from the internal structure of the
cancellous bone and cortical thickness of the
bone.

Chemical methods
 The racemization of amino acids in teeth.
 This has also been applied to bone
 Depends upon the progressive conversion
with advancing age of aspartic acid from the
dextro- to the laevo-isomer
(Ohtani 1994; Ritz et
al. 1994).

DETERMINATION OF RACE
FROMSKELETAL REMAINS

 3 main racial groups:
Caucasian,
Mongoloid,
Negroid.
 All other races are derived from these races.
 Archaeologists and Anthropologists - can
distinguish racial subgroups with varying
degrees of confidence.

 The skull offers the best evidence on racial
origins;
Mongoloid skull
 Posteriorly concave
 Shovel-shaped upper incisors which may be
grooved
on the rear
surface.
 Wide Zygomatic arches that give the typical
high- cheekbone features.

 Transverse facial width is greater than the
width of any other part of the head.
 Higher, Rounder eye socket
 Brachycephalic head
 Being absent in Caucasians
 Occurring in only up to 15 % in Negroid
Americans.

 Caucasian group Subdivides into its three
main subgroups:
Nordic
Alpine
Mediterranean.

Negroid group
 Dolichocephalic head.
 Orbit is lower and wider
 Nasal aperture is wide,
 Prognathism of the lower face and jaw
relatively marked.

PERSONAL IDENTITY
FROM SKELETAL MATERIAL

Anatomical shapes
 That can be matched by radiology
measurement.
Examples - Frontal sinus
comparison,
Craniometry
Radiological bone
architecture.

 Anatomical matching depends upon
accurate and detailed information about the
living subject who is thought to correspond
with the skeleton.
 Such information is usually radiographic and
is derived from clinical records.
 The examples are dental charts and
radiographs obtained from the dentist of the
potential match.

Frontal sinus identification
 Schuller (1921)
 Particularly useful in mutilated or burnt
bodies, Mass disasters like air crashes.
 The sinuses are well protected from all.
 They appear in the second year of life and
increase in size for the first two decades.

 Ante-mortem Antero-Posterior skull
radiograph must be available, the most
common source being from a previous
hospital admission or examination, usually for
a head injury.
 The cadaver skull or head must be X-rayed in
exactly the same degree orientation.

Schuller (1943)
 The 'forehead-nose' position was
recommended.
 The tube axis positioned level with the
Supraorbital margins.
 The scalloped upper margins of the sinuses
are used for comparison.
 These being smaller and more numerous inwww.indiandentalacademy.com

Asherson's (1965)
 Caldwell Occipitomental view used clinically
for investigation of the Nasal Sinuses.
 Outlining the sinus shape in black ink on the
film or tracing it onto a sheet of paper.
Turpin and Tisserand (1942)
 Projected their films on to a cardboard screen
and cut out a template, compare these from
both ante- and post-mortem films to
determine whether they were identical.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Reichs (1993)
 Computed tomography of the sinuses is
recommended.
Other radiological methods
 Matching of hand and wrist films,
 Matching the profile and structure of the first
rib and clavicle,
 Craniometric methods

ODONTOANTHROPOLO
GY

Burns and Maples (1976)
3 Parameters of dental aging:
Formative,
Degenerative,
Histological.

Formative parameter
Tooth mineralization
Crown completion
Eruption of the crown
Complementary roots.
Degenerative measurements
Tooth wear
Tooth colour
Periodontal attachments.

Histological assessments
Degree of secondary dentin deposition,
Cementum apposition,
Root resorption,
Root transparency.

Taylor (1978)
 Studying variations in dental patterns
 Suggested six parameters for evaluation:
1. Type of tooth structure- Family
characteristics.
2. Personal characteristics found throughout a
dentition- Crowns, Occlusal ridges, Cusps,
and Root robusticity, as well as Branching
patterns, Furcation, and Fusion.
3. Imposed characteristics based on thewww.indiandentalacademy.com

4. Complexity factors such as tubercles, pits,
additional ridges, grooves and fissures,
5. Acquired characteristics resulting from
differences during tooth formation such as
hypoplasia, pathology, trauma, function,
personal habits, and restorations.
6. Ethnic considerations.

 Dental aging techniques based on -
Formation of the crown,
Eruption,
Root tip completion.
 Dental information may be in conflict with
Skeletal age determinations.
 When very poor oral health is present, the
dental age may appear to be greater than
normal.
 Transients & Migrant workers often show
increased periarticular lipping in the joints
and Osteophytic lipping in the vertebrae.www.indiandentalacademy.com

Sex Determinants
 Based largely on tooth size and shape.
 Male teeth are usually larger
 Female canines are more pointed and a
narrower buccolingual width.
 Differences in size between maxillary central
and lateral incisors in females as compared to
males.
 Chin may be squared or rounded in males,
but is usually pointed or rounded in femaleswww.indiandentalacademy.com

Racial Determinants
 Projecting chins are found in Europeans &
Asiatics.
 Rounded, almost receding, chins are found in
Australian & South Pacific Islanders.
 Most African and Afro-American chins are
intermediate.

 Tooth size and shape, Carabelli's cusp,
enamel pearls, and dental pulp shape are
racial determinants.
 The form of the palate and the shape of the
dental arches are subject to considerable
variation.
 Stewart (1946) described these forms as
Ovoid,
"U"-shaped, and horseshoe-shaped.
 Martin and Sailer (1956) described these
forms as Semicircular, Half ellipse,

 The proportions of the palate and the
associated dental arches are indicated by the
Palatal index.
 The ratio of the width to the length of the
palate
(width/length x
100).
 The anthropometric divisions of this index are
Below 80,
80 to 85,
Above 85.www.indiandentalacademy.com

DNA
 Nuclear DNA is difficult to obtain from
decomposed remains.
 But mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) persists for
decades or longer.
 Teeth are an excellent source of mtDNA since
it is protected in the pulp chambers, but bone
cortex may also be used.

 Reference samples may be used for maternal
relatives.
(the mother and her siblings, maternal
grandmothers and their siblings, offspring,
maternal cousins, etc.).
 The identification probability is not as high for
mtDNA as it is using nuclear DNA, but mtDNA
is important because of its durability and the
relative abundance of reference donors.

Video Superimposition
 Austin-Smith and Maples (1994)
demonstrates that
Video superimposition is adequate for
identification
when multiple photographs from different
angles
(e.g., full face and profile) are available.
 Reliable identifications are possible using
video superimposition from single
photographs which show distinctive details

 Prepared by scientists experienced in using
the video equipment in their laboratory.
 Images digitalized by computers may be
unduly manipulated by the incautious or
unscrupulous.
 Fast video wipes and incomplete fades will
also produce video images that may suggest
a good identification when it is not.

Trauma analysis
 While skeletal damage may be obvious,
sometimes skeletal evidence of perimortem
injury is very subtle, such as
Fractures of the alveolar margins,
Chipped teeth,
Longitudinal enamel fractures,
Damage to the cortex of articular
bone,
Mandibular
condyles.

Drawbacks
 Applicable to adults only.
 Personal factor in measurements introduces
many errors.
 Requires delicate instruments and well-trained
operators
 Photographs in themselves not being reliable
means of Identification.
Hence, it has been replaced by fingerprint
system

References
Knight’s Forensic Pathology: Pekka Saukko,
Bernard Knight:
3rd
edition.
Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Principles and
Practice:
Krishan Vij: 3rd
edition.
Forensic Medicine and Toxicology: VV Pillay, 14th
edition.
Essentials of Forensic Medicine: Dr.K.S. Narayana

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