Determination of Stature Using Tooth Length

Background: Stature plays a major role in forensic identification. It is also considered to be one of the fundamental components of physical anthropology. When a full skeleton is not available, stature can be estimated from incomplete human remains. Teeth form an excellent material for anthropological, genetic, odontologic and forensic investigations. Various studies have ventured to ascertain the usefulness of tooth crown measurements in stature prediction. Methodology: Tooth lengths of all 28 teeth except 3rd molars were measured on digital OPG using inbuilt software IMPAXH (Agfa, Belgium). Stature was measured from the vertical distance from the vertex of head to the floor. Correlation between the tooth length and height of an individual was done by Pearson correlation test and linear regression analysis for prediction of stature from tooth length. Result & conclusion: Overall the results revealed that individual tooth variables have a good correlation with stature with r value ranging from 0.12-0.57 and p value less than 0.05. Among the tooth lengths, the length of the maxillary right molars showed the highest correlation with stature followed by maxillary right premolars and maxillary right canine than the other teeth. Regression equation was generated from tooth length, to predict height.