Use of dental dimensions estimated from personal portraits in human identification

Many cases of human identification in which traditional methods are not applicable challenge the experts’ capability and versatility. In the absence of ante-mortem records, superimposition of skull images over photographs of a possible victim arises as a possible alternative.
Aim: The present study was a pilot work willing to validate a new method of sizing images of the face by the use of proportionality principles, taking as reference a few predetermined accessories: a pair of sunglasses, a hat and a necklace.
Methods: Twenty-one volunteers were photographed using each one of the accessories mentioned above. Pictures of the dental arches were also taken, with millimeter scale adjacent. The images with accessories were examined by a single operator, who estimated the mesiodistal width of the upper central incisor, for later comparison with the real measures.
Results: The accuracy of the method was evaluated by the Student’s t-test, which showed that the estimated measures were statistically greater than the real ones.
Conclusions: The analysis of the data collected showed that the use of the accessories as a dimensional scale did not generate reliable results.