Application of 3D imaging and selfies in forensic dental identification

Abstract

With increased access to smartphones, the selfie has gained immense popularity in the past decade. Selfie images could be a significant source of ante-mortem (AM) image data in cases where dental records are unavailable or considered insufficient. The application of 3D imaging and selfies has not been explored to its full potential in human dental identification. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using selfies as AM data and comparing with 3D post-mortem (PM) scans as an alternative to multiple 2D PM photographs in forensic dental identification. The study sample consisted of 18 selfies (12 matching and 6 non-matching) and 15 3D dental scans obtained from the study participants. The study sample was assessed by 6 experienced forensic odontologists (Raters) in two phases; Phase I-Visual comparison of 2D selfies to 3D scans and Phase II-2D selfies superimposed upon 3D scans. Each rater looked at 15 cases, and a total of 1620 comparisons were made by 6 raters (72 for the 12 matching cases and 1548 were for non-matching) and the opinions for each of the comparisons were analyzed. The results of the study show that use of the 3D superimposition method increased the certainty of the conclusions reached by the raters for the cases with correct matches. Furthermore, 94.2% of the 1548 non-matching comparisons were correctly excluded, compared with 77% for the 2D visual comparison method. The study demonstrated the applicability of this 3D method as a valuable tool in assisting the forensic odontologist with dental identification using selfies.