Page 76 - Veritas

help to understand if the handled evidence is the real tooth. The species

origin of teeth can be determined by comparison of the exhibit with the
teeth of known species of animal for their morphological characteristics.

Sometimes examining the pulp cavity by using a range of species-specific
antisera can help to further conclude the origin of the teeth. Milk teeth can

easily be differentiated from permanent teeth by their milky white color,
smaller size, sharpness, and small and shallow roots. Permanent teeth, on

the other hand, are quite yellowish in color, larger in size with deep-root-
ed longer roots. Adult human dentition comprises incisors, canines, pre-

molars, and molars that vary in shape, size, and inter-spaces between the
teeth among different individuals. The way these teeth are arranged in

different oral cavities is unique in every individual. The discussed parame-

ters may be defined as the class characteristics observed while analyzing
the obtained exhibit (tooth/ teeth).

Dental maturity plays an important role in the estimation of age in chil-

dren and adolescents.

The age of an individual can be easily determined from the eruption se-

quence of teeth up to the age of about twenty-five years, and their con-
dition and decay such as attrition by mastication, alteration of the level of

gingival attachment, amount of secondary dentin formation in the pulp
cavity, the thickness of cementum around the root, translucency of the

root and root resorption via a method developed by Gustafson method
used for age determination from a single tooth way back in 1950. Further,

radiographic methods can elaborate on the various stages of mineraliza-
tion and further help in a more accurate estimation of age from teeth.

Although sex determination from teeth is not conclusive, in the absence

of other evidence, teeth can give a clue regarding the sex of the individual.

Odontometrics, a technique to take measurements on the teeth, has been
used by scientists for sex determination. This method is based on sexual

dimorphism of the size of the teeth such as mesiodistal and buccolingual
tooth dimensions. Certain dental indices such as Incisor Index, Mandibu-

lar-Canine Index, Crown Index, etc., derived from linear measurements of

VERITAS 61