Testing the utility of dental morphological traits commonly used in the forensic identification of ancestry.

Testing the utility of dental morphological traits commonly used in the forensic identification of ancestry. Front Oral Biol. 2009;13:49-54 Authors: Edgar HJ Abstract Few human variants are truly population specific, with 100% frequency in one group and 0% in others. However, for traits to be of use in forensic identification they must be as specific to a population as possible. Forensically, several dental morphological traits have been described as useful for determining an unknown individual's ancestry. For these traits to be of value, they should occur in their associated group in proportions statistically different from all other groups. Furthermore, ancestral groups not associated with the trait should have no significant frequency differences among them. To test this, frequencies of dental morphological traits listed in the forensic literature as useful for ancestry determination were compared among samples of African Americans, European Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans (n=1625). chi2 tests were conducted on dichotomized frequencies of ten trait observations, including incisor shoveling, Carabelli's trait, canine mesial ridge, and cusp seven. Results were mixed. For example, Native Americans have statistically different frequencies of shovel shaping from all other groups. However, statistical differences are seen among other groups as well. Only canine mesial ridge was consistently different in African Ameri...
Source: Frontiers of Oral Biology - Category: ENT & OMF Tags: Front Oral Biol Source Type: research