Occurrence of diversity in dental pattern and their role in identification in Indian population: An orthopantomogram based pilot study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify the diversity of dental pattern in the Indian population based on specific patterns of missing, filled, unrestored and impacted teeth using dental radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: Three hundred dental orthopantomograph were randomly selected and observed for the occurrence of dental patterns. The frequency of occurrence of dental patterns and the diversity in dental patterns were calculated for full dentition, maxilla and mandible. RESULTS: The incidence of the most common dental pattern formed by 32 virgin teeth was 9.3%. The diversity of dental pattern for full dentition was 99.7%. Diversity in the maxilla was 59.0% and that in the mandible was 82.0%. CONCLUSION: The study reveals the importance of diversity in dental patterns and their role in identification for forensic purposes.