ASSESSMENT OF DENTAL DIVERSITIES ON PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPHS FOR HUMAN IDENTIFICATION: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Aim: The correct identification of a person after death is an important process with respect to moral, social and legal consequences. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diversity of dental patterns, which is seen in dental panoramic radiographs for personal identification in the Turkish population. Materials and Methods: Five hundred and three radiographs were randomly selected from the patient database of different 3 private dental clinics. Teeth observed on the dental radiographs about seventeen major dental patterns for each tooth by a well-trained dentist. Generally, permanent dentition was considered for major evaluation for the patient older than 18 years of age and dentulous or partially edentulous. Each radiograph was matched to the sex, age and educational status of every individual. Results: Distributions of observed population were 57.3% female, 42.7 male; 66.4% young, 30.2% middle age, 3.4% old; and 40.2% primary-educated individual, 59.8% high-educated individual. The dental pattern data were grouped and analyzed by categorical data analysis and experimental design. The most observed dental patterns were virgin tooth (54.98%) in all cases. The missing tooth (13.46%) and dental fillings (11.45%) followed virgin tooth respectively. However, other the least commonly observed 14 dental patterns were showed lower than 5% frequency. Conclusion: The healthy teeth are mostly observed in the lower anterior sextant in both male and female. In young adults, the present a more balanced distribution compared to other age groups. Also, the people with low education have more rarely healthy teeth in the upper and lower molar regions according to odds-ratios.