Dental radiographic identification using ante-mortem CT, cone-beam CT, and MRI head and neck assessments

Abstract

Radiographs of the maxilla and mandible obtained for examining oral diseases include various anatomical features. Similarly, radiographs obtained in head and neck assessments may also include dental findings. In this study, we aimed to identify individuals using head and neck CT and MR imaging to obtain identifying information, including dental findings. We examined morphological similarities by superimposition and compared dental findings and tooth arrangement using head and neck images. In addition, 3D superimposition by ante-mortem (AM) cone-beam (CB) CT and post-mortem (PM) CT was also performed. In the evaluation of the superimposition of PM-CT, AM-CBCT and AM-MR images, all cases matched in 3D. In comparisons and collations of AM and PM images, the dental findings were similar. The findings suggest that dental findings can be assessed even on head and neck images, even if there are no AM dental images. Moreover, our attempts to compare and collate dental 3D images have indicated a new direction for future dental personal identification.