Supernumerary Teeth: An Investigating Tool in Forensic Crime Investigation

BACKGROUND: Supernumerary tooth is an additional entity to the normal series and is seen in all the quadrants of the jaw. The prevalence rates of supernumerary teeth in the permanent dentition, reported in the literature, vary between 0.1% and 6.9%. The presence of supernumerary teeth may be part of developmental disorders. As supernumerary tooth is a rare condition, it can be used as identification tool for crime investigation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 30 volunteers with a supernumerary tooth were analyzed and casts were made after taking alginate impression. All the casts were coded and were given to five observers for correct identification of those volunteers with respective prepared cast. RESULT: Personal identification and the cast identification of volunteers were done (cast of the volunteers). The matching identification is followed as below: Of five observers 1(st) observer able to detect 25 (83%), 2(nd) observer 27 (90%), 3(rd) observer 26 (87%), 4(th) observer 25 (83%) and 5(th) observer 28 (91%). CONCLUSION: As positive matching identification was 87%, supernumerary tooth can be used for crime investigation and used as greatest weapon in criminal identification.