Proposal for internet-based Digital Dental Chart for personal dental identification in forensics

Hanaoka, Yoichi; Ueno, Asao; Tsuzuki, Tamiyuki; Kajiwara, Masahiro; Minaguchi, Kiyoshi; Sato, Yoshinobu

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2005.12.026

« Previous Next »Forensic Science International
Volume 168, Issue 1 , Pages 57-60, 3 May 2007

Proposal for internet-based Digital Dental Chart for personal dental identification in forensics

Yoichi Hanaoka
- Department of Forensic Odontology, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken 261-8502, Japan
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 43 270 3786; fax: +81 43 270 3788.
Asao Ueno
- Department of Legal Medicine, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan
Tamiyuki Tsuzuki
- Center of Legal Medicine of Dentistry, The Nippon Dental University School of Dentistry at Tokyo, 1-9-20 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8159, Japan
Masahiro Kajiwara
- Department of Legal Medicine, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan
Kiyoshi Minaguchi
- Department of Forensic Odontology, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken 261-8502, Japan
Yoshinobu Sato
- Department of Legal Medicine, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan

Received 13 September 2005; received in revised form 16 November 2005; accepted 20 December 2005. published online 14 February 2006.

Abstract

A dental chart is very useful as a standard source of evidence in the personal identification of bodies. However, the kind of dental chart available will often vary as a number of types of odontogram have been developed where the visual representation of dental conditions has relied on hand-drawn representation. We propose the Digital Dental Chart (DDC) as a new style of dental chart, especially for open investigations aimed at establishing the identity of unknown bodies. Each DDC is constructed using actual oral digital images and dental data, and is easy to upload onto an Internet website. The DDC is a more useful forensic resource than the standard types of dental chart in current use as it has several advantages, among which are its ability to carry a large volume of information and reproduce dental conditions clearly and in detail on a cost-effective basis.

Keywords: Forensic odontology, Dental chart, Personal identification, Internet