TY - JOUR
T1 - Charred or fragmented, yet comparable
T2 - Quantifying dental surface dissimilarity across teeth, jaws, and heat exposure
AU - Kofod Petersen, Anika
AU - Mânica, Scheila
AU - Forgie, Andrew
AU - Boyle, Richard
AU - Pandey, Hemlata
AU - Villesen, Palle
AU - Staun Larsen, Line
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors
PY - 2025/10
Y1 - 2025/10
N2 - Accurate dental matching is essential for forensic identification, particularly in challenging cases involving dentitions with no dental work, incomplete dentitions or damaged remains. This study evaluates similarity scoring schemes for 3D dental data using three datasets: full jaws versus single teeth (DATA-A), and two collections of heat-traumatized teeth (DATA-B and DATA-C). The similarity scores are assessed for their ability to quantify tooth curvature (dis)similarity and distinguish matching from mismatching dental comparisons. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods in handling dental fragmentation (ROC-AUCDATA-A = 0.899 (95 % CI 0.840–0.948) and heat trauma (ROC-AUC DATA-B = 0.996 (95 % CI 0.98–1.00); ROC-AUC DATA-C = 0.993 (95 % CI 0.980–1.00), and that they offer a robust tool for forensic applications.
AB - Accurate dental matching is essential for forensic identification, particularly in challenging cases involving dentitions with no dental work, incomplete dentitions or damaged remains. This study evaluates similarity scoring schemes for 3D dental data using three datasets: full jaws versus single teeth (DATA-A), and two collections of heat-traumatized teeth (DATA-B and DATA-C). The similarity scores are assessed for their ability to quantify tooth curvature (dis)similarity and distinguish matching from mismatching dental comparisons. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods in handling dental fragmentation (ROC-AUCDATA-A = 0.899 (95 % CI 0.840–0.948) and heat trauma (ROC-AUC DATA-B = 0.996 (95 % CI 0.98–1.00); ROC-AUC DATA-C = 0.993 (95 % CI 0.980–1.00), and that they offer a robust tool for forensic applications.
KW - 3D dental comparison
KW - Biometric identification
KW - Disaster victim identification
KW - Forensic odontology identification
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105010727687
U2 - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112577
DO - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112577
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:105010727687
SN - 0379-0738
VL - 375
JO - Forensic Science International
JF - Forensic Science International
M1 - 112577
ER -