Relevancia de las rugas palatinas como método de identificación forense / Importance of palatal rugae as a method of forensic identification

La identificación humana es uno de los objetivos principales de la odontología forense. Para llegar a esta identificación científica, el odontólogo debe encontrar propiedades tales como edad, sexo y características odontológicas individualizantes. La cavidad oral ofrece muchas posibilidades para la identificación, no solo a partir de los dientes y huesos de la cavidad craneal, sino también de los tejidos blandos orales; en consecuencia, ofrece un mayor campo de estudio.La rugoscopía, técnica basada en el estudio de las rugas palatinas, es un método de identificación muy poco explorado y de gran ayuda en la odontología forense para identificar personas. Las rugas palatinas son estructuras inmutables y perennes que, por su ubicación en la cavidad oral, están protegidas de cualquier trauma y no se alteran con la vecindad de las prótesis dentales ni por sustancias químicas. Ya que todos presentamos rugas diferentes en cuanto a su tamaño, posición, número y disposición (su forma no cambia desde el nacimiento hasta la muerte), las rugas constituyen elementos importantes en el proceso de identificación de personas en casos en los que las huellas dactilares son irrecuperables. Por tanto, el objetivo de esta investigación es revisar la reelevancia del análisis rugoscópico como un método efectivo y de bajo costo para la identificación de sujetos vivos, cadáveres recientes y cadáveres momificados o antiguos. (AU)

Human identification is one of the primary objectives of forensic dentistry. To achieve this scientific identification, dentists must find characteristics such as age, sex, and other individualizing dental traits. The oral cavity offers many possibilities for identification, not only based on teeth and the bones of the cranial cavity; but also on the oral soft tissues; thus, offering us a wider field of study.Rugoscopy, a technique based on the study of palatal rugae, is a little explored method of identification, but is of great utility in forensic dentistry. Palatal rugae are immutable and perennial structures, which, are protected from external trauma due to their location in the oral cavity and are not altered with the vicinity of dental prostheses or by erosion of chemical substances. Since all human beings present different rugae Since rugae differ among all humans in terms of size, position, number, and arrangement (their shape does not change from birth to death), they are important elements in the identification process of people from whom fingerprints are unrecoverable. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the usefulness of rugoscopic analysis as an effective and low-cost method for identifying living subjects, recent corpses, and mummified or ancient corpses. (AU)

Demirjian's stages and Cameriere's third molar maturity index to estimate legal adult age in Peruvian population.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy of Demirjian's stages (DS) and Cameriere's third molar maturity index cut-off value (I3M<0.08) to estimate the age of majority on panoramic radiographs (OPTs) from the dental clinic of the Scientific University of the South (UCSUR), Lima, Peru. METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted on the sample of 208 digital panoramic radiographs of patients aged 14-22years examined during 2015 in UCSUR. The left lower third molars were analyzed using Adobe Photoshop® CS6. An effectiveness of specific DS and I3M<0.08 was evaluated by using accurate classification, sensitivity, specificity, positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) likelihood ratios and Bayes post-test probability (p). RESULTS: Only G and H stages were practical for classify adults and minors in the tested sample, while I3M<0.08 showed the best performance in both sexes. For I3M<0.08, the accurate classification, sensitivity and specificity were 0.96, 0.96, 0.96 and 0.90, 0.84 and 0.95 in males and females, respectively. Values of LR+, LR- and p were 24.96, 0.04, 0.97 and 15.68, 0.17, 0.95 in males and females, respectively. CONCLUSION: The specific cut-off value of third molar maturity index (I3M<0.08) showed to be more accurate in discriminating adults and minors in Peruvian sample when a test with high sensitivity and specificity is required.