Analytical Methods of Dental Anthropology Forensic Odontology –An Overview (original) (raw)
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Dental Anthropology-A Revolutionary Tool in Forensic Science
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International
Dental anthropology is a field of physical anthropology that studies the origin, development, and evolution of anthropoid dentitions, as well as their relationship to social, physical, and cultural factors. Teeth have their own distinct morphology and physiology, which is in stark contrast to the body's genetic structure. Teeth are also unique among the resistant elements of archaeological and fossil remains in that they have been exposed on the body's surface throughout their lives. As a result, dental anthropology may be assessed in the mouth cavity of living humans using similar methods to those used for prehistoric relics. As a result, it's no surprise that practising dental surgeons have historically ranked well among dental anthropologists. This review’s initial purpose is to provide an overview of the morphological and non-morphological properties of animate dentitions that aid in the indirect identification of prehistoric remains and the understanding of their cu...
Dental Anthropology has produced a huge amount of information in the last decades, covering many different aspects of human biological and cultural life. For the last twenty years, a process of diversification and specialization occurred,that sometimes precluded the development of macroscale comparative studies,except for a few exceptional cases. Some reflections and critical debate have to be done to overcomethese limits and to arrive to more consensual methodological procedures. The generation, analysis and conservation of new and previously known documented human osteological collections,and the use of compatible methodologies continue to be fundamental to obtain proxy data and generate adequate protocols to carry out comparative studies involving research projects from different parts of the world. Dental Anthropology is a scientific discipline of great development in the last decades, which deals with studies of sexual dimorphism, paleodemography, oral health, lifestyle, evolutionary trends, paleodiet, biodistance and paleopathology through the analysis of the dentition of extinct and modernhuman populations[1-22,among many others]. It is an important way of investigationthat allows access to knowledge sometimes avoided by other kind of research. The microscopic structure of osseous remains is more fragile than that of teeth, and therefore tend to be more easily deteriorated, so that the latter usually form an important part of the evidence available because of the much tougher constitution of the tissues, both in archaeological cases and in the unfortunately increasing number of mass disasters, like aircraft accidents, natural catastrophes or terrorist attacks[e.g. 23-27]. Considering that tooth structure is not remodeled during life, they offer a large amount of information for understanding the biological and social dynamics of past populations [3, 14, 28, 29] and assist in the identification of missing persons through forensic anthropology procedures[30-32]. Modern Dental Anthropology is the result of systematic efforts carried out by research teams for decadesin order to strengthen the scientific nature of the discipline and tried to explain the enormous biological diversity of human populations.The vast amount of information generated byscholars such as Cameriere and their investigation teams are good examples of comprehensive and sustainedprograms that included specific and holistic investigation designs. These detailed and numerous studies were initiated during the first half of the twentieth century, and significantly diversified since the 1970s. The prolific development generated a huge amount of data about dentition, which contributed to improving knowledge about the issues mentioned above; its impact is seen in the growing interest on the subject andthe increasing incorporation of specialists in archeological and bio anthropological research groups all around the world. At present, dental anthropology is immersed in a complex scenario that requires that the multiple current analysesin force, most of which offer significant heuristic potential for improving the anthropological science, be reflexively evaluated so as to arrive tomethodological consensus that allow performing macroscale comparative studies.The definitions of the variablesstudied,their categorizations and the recording proceduresare issues that should be clearly stated and necessarily discussed within the academic community in order to reach general consensus among scholars, so as to produce comparable data and allow developing studies in large spatial and temporal scales[33]. In this way, several survey protocols and systems of nomenclature have been generated to unify criteria of analysis in other disciplines, such as bio archeology, paleodemography and paleopathology [34-38].Dental Anthropology still needs this kind of general agreement.
Dental Anthropology and Forensics: Answers to Questions Related to our Past – Review of the Literature, 2024
Dental science is directly correlated to anthropology, which is attributed to teeth's significant advantages and properties. Meanwhile, justice is better and easier served due to the contribution of forensic odontology. The aim of the present literature review is to present the decisive contribution of dental science to the investigation of human species' evolution, as well as to the demystification of criminal cases. A thorough research has been conducted in scientific databases and scientific textbooks related to our review. It is obvious that the assessment of gradual modifications in human dentition as time passes by is indicative of human species' evolution. Nowadays, it is feasible to determine an excavated skeleton's identity and, as far as the ancient civilizations are concerned, to investigate their intercultural relationships, their dietary customs and their oral health's status. With regard to forensics, the structure of cranial bones is of great assistance in demystificating legal cases. Forensic odontology provides forensic medical examiners with the opportunity to faster identify deceased people and more effectively examine abused victims. Certainly, radiographic techniques, such as periapical radiographs as well as modern radiographic methodologies (CT, CBCT, MRI), offer additional diagnostic information in forensics. So, methodologies introduced by dental science have become a remarkable assist in anthropological researches, as well as in forensics. Nevertheless, there can be noticed a limited application of forensic odontology's principles in Greece. This fact may be attributed to the technological capabilities of our country's forensic laboratories rather than the Greek experts' level of expertise.
A dental metric open access dataset. Odontological applications in anthropological studies.
Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia, 2023
Teeth due to their peculiar structure and composition are the most durable elements of animal bodies and therefore the most common osteological remains in collections. The abundance of teeth in collections means that they are subject to extensive research that today constitutes a well-defined discipline called Odontology. Fortunately, through appropriate anatomical and comparative studies teeth can be informative about phylogenetic history and evolutionary mechanisms of species. Variations in teeth, including dimensional variations, are commonly used in physical anthropology as a powerful diagnostic tool. This paper aims to provide a free database of adult human tooth measurements. The database consists of a series of maxilla and mandible mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters (711 measures) taken on the premolars and molars from 19 Sicilian sites that belong to the Mesolithic up to modern times. It is not our intention, at this time, to provide an extensive ontological study. Instead, we illustrate with a simple example of how the database can be used. The example shows the database is reliable and reproducible.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1995
Most analyses of dental enamel hypoplasia compare frequencies of disturbed tooth types, which do not account for variability in the area of affected enamel. An alternate methodology, hypoplastic area, is presented here that accounts for this variability by combining acute and continuous enamel hypoplasia into an interval-level variable. The method compares samples based on individuals, by multiple tooth type variables, or by a single value rather than by tooth types. Use of the hypoplastic area method is illustrated by analyzing human skeletal dentitions in three archaeological samples: Meroitic Nubians from Semna South, Sudan; Anasazi from Navajo Reservoir, New Mexico; and Mogollon from Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona. Both univariate and multivariate statistical tests are employed to assess variation in defects between individuals and samples. By incorporating measurements of continuous defects, the hypoplastic area method provides information beyond that of frequency data in comparing levels of stress. Flexibility of the method is also discussed. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Dental Anthropology Volume 20 , Number 1 , 2007 Dental Anthropology is the Official
2007
The aims of this study were to compare crown dimensions of mandibular first molars (M1) and second molars (M2) between Mongolians (belonging to the Khalkha-Mogol grouping) and Caucasians (Northern European ancestry) and to attempt to explain any observed differences in phylogenetic and ontogenetic terms. Materials in this study comprised dental casts of 48 Mongolian female subjects with a mean age of 20.5 years and 50 Caucasian female subjects with a mean age of 21.5 years. For M1, the buccolingual diameters of both mesial and distal crown components in Mongolians were significantly larger than in Caucasians. For M2, the mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters of the (1990) observed this dental pattern in populations of Northern China, Mongolia, and Southern Siberia. Even though frequencies of occurrence and degrees of expression of nonmetric morphological crown features have been described in many Asian populations, including Mongolians (Scott and Turner, 1998; Turner, 1990; Manabe ...
Sexual Dimorphism, 2013
Sexual Dimorphism 98 populations; 6. Have the ability to reflect the dietary habits of an individual and how they process food; 7. Reveal the conditions of health, age, sex, habits and functional occupational habits; and 8. Make evident technological and cultural development of a population [5-9]. Similarly, in the forensic context, the dentition is the accurate way to identify individuals whose death makes it difficult to distinguish by other processes (visual recognition, fingerprints, documents and clothing), which contributes to the reconstruction of individual and general osteo-biography (odonto-biography in the case of the teeth) (10]. That is, in anthropological and forensic contexts initially it is established general biology that links the individual as a member of a population with a specific gender, a certain age, ethnic patterns and a series of detailed physical characteristics including height and body proportions, commonly referred to as the basic quartet of identification. However, the diagnosis of sex is successful in 100% of the cases when the skeleton is complete and in good condition, when the individual is an adult and when the intra-group morphometric variability of the population, which the specimen belongs, is known. If only is available the skull, in an unknown population context or if the individual is immature, the degree of objectivity can range from 80 to 90%, taking into account that the age group between 15-18 years is the age limit to from which the sexual estimate more accurately appreciated [11]. 2. Sexual dimorphism in human teeth Human populations vary according to their phylogenetic origins as macro and microevolutionary patterns, ethnic, sexual characteristics (gender) and ontogenetically by age and also there are individual variations of each human being as a member of a species. That is why in the anthropological context, the population analysis is done through levels or scales ranging from general to particular and individual from the individual, the intra-group and inter-group, which is recognized as basic identification quatrain, which includes age, ethnic pattern, height and gender. The latter seeks from sexual variations on the shape and size of individuals, whether an individual is female, male or allophys, in which case it is not possible to determine either gender. This set of variations in ethnic and phylogenetic origin is known as sexual dimorphism. Contemporary humans are dimorphic, but less so than other hominids, with a body sexual dimorphism index of only 4 to 7%. However, taking into account the morphological features of post-cranial skeleton increases from 8 to 20% and that from the teeth increases 8 to 9%, mainly in the canine teeth, which are considered the most dimorphic teeth of living current human [6]. To determine the sex in the anthropological context from skeletal remains, there are different methods to analyze the metrical features or dimensions of the skull, which is known as craniometry, the morphological features or shape of the skull, including the glabella, the supra-orbital ridge, the nuchal crest, mastoid process and the chin, the bones of the skeleton as the jaw, hip, sacrum, scapula, clavicle, sternum, humerus and femur mainly, and metric and morphological features of teeth (10]. Through analysis of teeth, it is possible to study the sexual dimorphism of an individual from the patterns of dental development and eruption, the expression of a protein known as amelogenin, dental morphology and dental dimensions.
In archaeology and anthropology, teeth are often the most valuable sources of information owing to their durability, and studies in dental morphology play an important role in not only reconstructing the craniofacial evolution of hominin species, but also in finding links and variances between modern populations from different geographical locations. More so, dietary patterns, environmental adaptations and lifestyles of these individuals can be better understood from dentition. Therefore, there is no doubting the great scope of dental anthropology and its contribution to our understanding of the human past. The current research took a multidisciplinary approach to the study of premolars to gauge into changes in dentition over a period of 3.5 million years. Techniques such as μCT and geometric morphometrics were used to analyse the premolars of two groups. The first comprised Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) and included Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Modern Human premolars (2012-2014 CE). The second group comprised μCT 3D models of mandibles of 9 hominin species. After reconstructing the μCT images across a number of stages, 3D models of premolars were analysed. Both, computational and linear measurements indicated that there was no significant difference between sexes and age-groups of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman populations. A negative odontometric trend was observed, especially in the first premolars, where Roman premolar crowns were evidently larger than the other two groups. In contrast, a positive odontometric trend was identified in the buccal and lingual crown lengths of lower second premolars where mean scores of modern samples were greater than that of the Anglo-Saxon populations. A significant difference was also seen in the CEJ measurements of lower first premolars between groups. The second group of samples were analysed using exploratory methods. Here, 3D models of hominin mandibles were acquired from various online resources. The crown was sliced at the cemento-enamel junction and then linear measurements were taken. Crown measurements of Roman, Anglo-Saxon and modern human premolars was included when analysing hominin samples as part of the Homo sapiens group. Results suggested that there was a trending significance between the crown measurements of pre-Homo and Homo species. The premolars of pre-Homo species showed greater asymmetry in tooth outlines as well as larger premolars with wider mesio-distal surface. Later Homo species showed more symmetrical outlines with smaller bucco-lingual lengths and mesio-distal widths. H. neanderthalensis showed extreme asymmetry of crown outlines for second lower premolars. An overall negative odontometric trend in the size and shape of premolar crowns was observed between pre-Homo and Homo species. Such a trend was associated with adaptational changes, genetic influences and dietary patterns that have been adopted by hominins over the course of evolution. Future directions were suggested to continue in this line of research as these methods prove to be extremely useful in understanding the evolution of dentition.
Journal of human evolution, 2011
Traditional morphometric approaches for taxonomic assignment of Neanderthal and modern human dental remains are mainly characterized by caliper measurements of tooth crowns. Several studies have recently described differences in dental tissue proportions and enamel thickness between Neanderthal and modern human teeth. At least for the lower second deciduous molar (dm 2 ), a three-dimensional lateral relative enamel thickness index has been proposed for separating the two taxa. This index has the advantage over other measurements of being applicable to worn teeth because it ignores the occlusal aspect of the crown. Nevertheless, a comparative evaluation of traditional crown dimensions and lateral dental tissue proportion measurements for taxonomic assignment of Neanderthal and modern human dm 2 s has not yet been performed.