Sisira Ranasinghe
Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Keynote: Advances in Medical Research
Forensic odontology, an important branch in forensic science uses dental knowledge and treatment modalities for solving legal issues and civil matters. Advancements in dental technology and materials influence the forensic odontology investigations especially the dental identification of unknown bodies or human remains, and the techniques involved in dental age estimation for both living and the dead. The age of the deceased persons narrows the search in identification of the deceased. As in many countries, specific age markers are enacted by the penal code of the Sri Lankan for children which are important for age estimation of living subjects. As such this paper has focused on our research study for dental age estimation and its findings in the Sri Lankan population. In Sri Lanka, births in hospitals are recorded consistently but home deliveries may not always be registered. A birth certificate is the most essential document for official and other purposes in the country at present. A scientific estimation of age is required when the birth certificate is not available or lost due to various reasons, including forgery. Natural and man-made disasters also demand age estimation to facilitate the process of human identification. Since there are numerous methods available globally for age estimation, it is important to determine the most appropriate methods for individuals or population concerned.
This retrospective study evaluated the appropriate method for Sri Lankan child population. Radiographs of 688 Sri Lankan children ranging from 8.00 to 16.99 years were used to evaluate the performance of three different age estimation methods. The results revealed that the mean chronological age (CA) of the entire sample was 12.38±2.68 years, while the mean dental ages (DA) calculated were 11.83±2.20 years, 12.57±2.53 years, and 11.99±2.43 years using Blenkin and Evans method, Demirjian et al. method and the Willems et al. method respectively. The Demirjian et al. method consistently overestimated the age of males, whereas the Blenkin and Evans method consistently underestimated the age. The method of Willems et al.
produced DA quite close to CA. In females, the Demirjian et al. method consistently overestimated the age until 13.99 years and then underestimated the higher age groups, while the Willems et al. method underestimated the age in all age groups and the Blenkin and Evans method also consistently underestimated the age. The percentages of either overestimation or underestimation calculated for ±0.5 years of the true age were 41.0% for the Blenkin and Evans, 42.8% for the Demirjian et al. and 49.1% for the Willems et al. In conclusion, while all three methods could be applicable in the estimation of dental age for medico-legal purposes, the Willems et al. method appears to be more appropriate in overall measures for the Sri Lankan reference sample.
Sisira Ranasinghe is currently attached to the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Colombo, Sri Lanka as a Forensic Odontologist. He has completed M.Phil. in Forensic Odontology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2005 and post graduate Diplomas in Dental Surgery and Forensic Odontology respectively from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1996 and IFS, India in 2010. His first degree, Bachelor of Dental Surgery was awarded by the University of Peradeniya in 1986. He has experience in the arena of clinical dentistry over 30 years and forensic odontology for past 15 years as an expert in handling oral autopsies for forensic investigations. He has participated in many National and international conferences including USA, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He was awarded a scholarship in 1999 for a course of Clinical dentistry in the University of Kyushu, Japan and for short term training in Forensic Odontology in Sydney Australia in 2012.
E-mail: ranasingherask@gmail.com
