Evaluation of Dental Non-Metric Traits in Ethnic Tamil Population: An Aid in Forensic Profiling

Abstract

Introduction: Non-metric dental traits are features of dental morphology that show alteration in their appearance both within and between the populations. These traits seem to be controlled in part by genetics so these can be successfully used in the description of the ethnicity which can be helpful in identification of the person through the dental records. Aim: The analysis aimed at assessing the frequency of dental non-metric traits in the ethnic Tamil Population as some dental variants are constant within a given geographical area, which suggests that the frequency of the trait can be mapped within a population. Materials and Methods: An observational study was conducted in SRM dental college from July 2017 to December 2017 (over a period of five months). The study sample included 1000 participants, (500 males, 500 females). The non-metric dental traits which were assessed were cusp of carabelli, talon’s cusp, shovelled incisor, and peg shaped lateral incisor, protostylid, dryopithecus groove pattern, hypoconulid, parastyle, paracone, bushman canine, interruption grooves, tuberculum dentale. The participants were subjected to visual examination and photographic records. Descriptive analysis was done in this study. Results: Out of the 12 non-metric dental traits which were assessed in the present study, only 5 non-metric dental traits were found to be prevalent among this population. The frequencies were cusp of carabelli 230 out of 1000 (23%){male (90 out of 500) female (140 out of 500)}, shovelled incisor 80 out of 1000 (8%){male (50 out of 500) female (30 out of 500)}, peg lateral 50 out of 1000 (5%) {male (20 out of 500) female (30 out of 500)}, interruption groove 20 out of 1000 (2%) {male 20 out of 500)}, dryopethicus groove 20 out of 1000 (2%) {male (10 out of 500) female (10 out of 500)}among the ethnic Tamil population. Conclusion: The present study highlights the fact that two non-metric traits i.e., cusp of carabelli and shovelled incisor found to be more common in males and females of ethnic Tamil population. This fact represents that these traits are the most common in ethnic Tamil Population which could be used as one of the validation tools for Human identification.

Keywords

• cusp of carabelli
• gender identification
• shovel incisor
• talon’s cusp