Contribution of teeth in human forensic identification – Discriminant function sexing odontometrical techniques in Portuguese population

Pereira, Cristiana; Bernardo, Mário; Pestana, Dinis; Santos, Jorge Costa; Mendonça, Maria Cristina de

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2009.09.001

« Previous Next »Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume 17, Issue 2 , Pages 105-110, February 2010

Contribution of teeth in human forensic identification – Discriminant function sexing odontometrical techniques in Portuguese population

Cristiana Pereira, MSc (Assistant Professor, Forensic Odontologist Consultant)
- Department of Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Portuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine, Lisbon Department, Lisbon, Portugal
- Corresponding author. Address: Faculdade de Medicina Dentária da Universidade de Lisboa, Cidade Universitária, Laboratório de Biomateriais, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal. Tel./fax: +35 1217922652.
Mário Bernardo, PhD (Professor)
- Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Dinis Pestana, PhD (Professor)
- Department of Statistics and Operation Research, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Center of Statistics and Applications of University of Lisbon (CEAUL), Lisbon, Portugal
Jorge Costa Santos, PhD (Professor)
- Legal Medicine, University of Lisbon and Director of the Portuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine, Lisbon Department, Lisbon, Portugal
Maria Cristina de Mendonça, PhD (Professor, Legal Consultant)
- Legal Medicine, University of Coimbra, Lisbon, Portugal
- Portuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine, Coimbra Department, Lisbon, Portugal

Received 26 November 2007; received in revised form 17 May 2009; accepted 4 September 2009.

Abstract

We investigate the accuracy of odontometric methods in sex determination, using a sample from the Portuguese population. Measurements were made on dental casts using a digital caliper, and various odontometric indexes have been defined using upper incisor and canine teeth.

Comparison of the means in both sexes was performed using Student’s t-test. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found in all variables except for the “Incisor Index”. The canine showed the greatest sexual discriminant characteristics. In the presence of one or both canines the distobuccal–mesiolingual crown diameter and the “Robustness Value” allowed discrimination between sexes in the studied population. We also provide further arguments on the debate on whether sex determination is population specific.