Dental Anthropology and
Forensic Dentistry
Eric C. Chen
Do you ever
idle around and channel flip until catching a split-second of CSI or NCIS, only
to realize one hour later that you’ve watched the entire episode? Have you ever
wondered how the ‘science’ actually works in real life in comparison to what
happens in all those addicting, romanticized crime dramas? More importantly,
have you ever seen a dentist solve any of these murder mysteries?
If you
answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to any of the aforementioned questions, please continue
reading.
But
seriously, although television has yet to see a bright, young – and attractive
– UCLA dentist solve an incredibly complex case on NCIS: Los Angeles, the field
of forensic dentistry has long been a driving force in the handling of dental
evidences to assist and solve innumerable cases around the world.
Before we
begin, let’s consider some interesting and relatively unknown pieces in dental
anthropology that relate to forensic dentistry.
For starters,
considerable metric variation in dental anatomy has been documented across
various worldwide populations. Sources of variation range from the genetic such
as sex-based and population-level factors all the way to the environment such
as stress and diet factors. The usage of modern technology in the form of
calipers and computed tomography have enhanced our understanding of dental
anthropology. Furthermore, the abundance and preservation of teeth as
historical records further attest to the reliability of dental records.
Sexual
dimorphism, for instance, is greatest dentally in human canine crowns.
Differences also exist in dental tissue proportions with females having
relatively more enamel than males, and males having relatively more dentine
than females.
In addition,
as shown from a 2005 study where researchers at the Department of Anatomy and
Biological Anthropology at Japan’s Saga Medical School examined dental
variation across 72 human populations, differences in mesiodistal and
buccolingual crown diameters as well as odontometric shape factors exist across
worldwide populations.
If we further
consider non-metric variation of dental traits such as shovel-shaped incisors
and the cusp of Carabelli, even more can be determined from a given dentition. Shovel-shaped
incisors, where the maxillary central incisors physically resemble miniature
shovels due to prominent lingual marginal ridges, are found more often in
people of Native American and Asian descent; the cusp of Carabelli, a small
additional cusp on the mesiolingual cusp of maxillary first molars, is found
more often in people of European and African descent. These traits represent just
a fraction of myriad dental traits recognized in dental anthropology.
Now to the fun
stuff. How does dental anthropology translate into forensic dentistry?
It turns out you
can reconstruct criminal events, identify remains, and even examine bite marks,
just to name a few things that forensic dentists do. The application of the
science of dental anthropology to the legal process centers around the
identification of remains to assist in detecting a crime, and even the
identification of dental records to determine the sex, age, ancestry, and even
stature of an alleged perpetrator or victim.
For example,
forensic dentistry has helped convict serial killers and rapists in many
prominent criminal cases through substantial bite-mark evidence where the
perpetrator was known to bite their victim.
Outside the
justice system, forensic dentistry has done even more. After the 2011 Tohuku
earthquake and resultant tsunami that devastated Japan, hundreds of dentists voluntarily
rallied to match dental records with unidentified bodies. By checking the type
of treatment and dental work done on the teeth of the bodies and using
biometric identification techniques, dentists were able to help countless
families come to terms with and properly bury their lost loved ones.
Without a
doubt, dental anthropology and forensic dentistry can be used in a multitude of
fascinating and beneficial ways to aid us not only in our understanding of the
human condition, but also in the triumph of justice and the rebuilding of our
weathered communities.
Although
largely unknown to the general public and unlikely to be revealed on a crime
scene show like CSI or NCIS any time soon, it is the unspoken, meticulous work
of thousands and thousands of dentists around the world who remind us of the
humility and significance in which we must serve in our esteemed yet humbled
profession.
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