Anterior dental arch shape and human identification: Kieser et al. method applied to 2D-3D dental models in Mexican population

Abstract

In this research, Kieser's method was employed to scrutinize whether the anterior dental arch (canine to canine) can be applied to identify a person for forensic individualization, evaluating the perspective of a personal identification method. In this research, Kieser's method was employed to scrutinize whether the anterior dental arch (canine to canine) can be applied to identify a person for forensic individualization. This study was performed in 207 plaster dental models selected from the National Odontological Collection-UNAM; these models were before and after orthodontic treatment. We applied a 2D and 3D (photographs and surface scan) geometric morphometric approach to analyze shape with a biodistance method using principal component and cluster analysis. Both approaches achieved individualization rates above 95 % of correct classifications, although 3D was more precise and with less amount of mimicry and incorrect classifications. This pattern of identification is constant even when an orthodontic specialist has treated the individuals.

Keywords

• Forensic science
• Geometric morphometrics
• Personal identification
• Dental comparison
• Mexican population reference data