Citation

Whittaker DK, Brickley MR, Evans L. Forensic Sci. Int. 1998; 92(1): 11-20.

Affiliation

Dental School, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9627971

Abstract

Fifty colour prints of human bite marks were sent to 109 observers who were asked to decide using a six point rating scale, whether the marks had been produced by the teeth of an adult or a child. The observers consisted of accredited senior forensic dentists, accredited junior forensic dentists, general dental practitioners, final year dental students, police officers and social workers. The results were compared against a "gold standard" which was the actual verdict from the case. Comparison of the results between the groups of observers and the standard was made using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) methodology. The best decisions were made by senior/junior experts or final year dental students. General dental practitioners and police officers were least able to differentiate correctly between adult and child bite marks. The effect of training is important and its effects need to be assessed in more detail in future studies.

Language: en