Pretty Iain A, Pretty Robert J, Rothwell Bruce R, Sweet David
The University of Liverpool, Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
J Forensic Sci. 2003 Nov;48(6):1325-30.
In the era of Daubert and other judicial rulings pertaining to the acceptability of forensic evidence, it is increasingly important that experts are able to testify that their methods have been scientifically tested and that error rates and other factors relating to reliability have been published. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of digitized radiographic comparisons for the purposes of dental identification. Participants with various forensic backgrounds and experience levels were passively recruited to the website. Ten forensic identification cases composed of antemortem and postmortem dental radiographs were supplied to examiners using a bespoke website. Participants responded to the cases on two occasions after a one-month washout interval using the ABFO conclusion levels for forensic identifications. A total of 115 first attempts and 87 matched second attempts were received. Of the total responses, 72% were dentally trained respondents who had completed at least one forensic identification case; of these, 38% were experienced forensic dentists who had completed more than 25 identifications. Data relating to accuracy, intra- and inter-examiner agreement, and the effect of case difficulty are presented. Mean accuracy was 85.5% for all cases, with the experienced forensic dentists obtaining a 91% success rate. The inter-examiner agreement on the negative identification cases was classified as poor. The data suggest that dental identifications resulting from the comparison of postmortem and antemortem radiographs are valid, accurate, and reliable when undertaken by experienced odontologists.
在多伯特法则及其他有关法医证据可采性的司法裁决时代，专家能够证明其方法经过科学检验且已公布错误率及其他与可靠性相关的因素变得愈发重要。本研究的目的是确定数字化放射影像比对用于牙齿鉴定的可靠性。具有不同法医背景和经验水平的参与者被被动招募到该网站。使用定制网站向检查人员提供了由生前和死后牙齿X光片组成的10个法医鉴定案例。参与者在经过一个月的洗脱期后，分两次对这些案例做出回应，采用法医鉴定的ABFO结论级别。共收到115次首次尝试和87次匹配的第二次尝试。在所有回复中，72%是接受过牙科培训且至少完成过一个法医鉴定案例的受访者；其中，38%是完成过超过25次鉴定的经验丰富的法医牙医。呈现了与准确性、检查者内部和检查者之间的一致性以及案例难度影响相关的数据。所有案例的平均准确率为85.5%，经验丰富的法医牙医成功率为91%。检查者之间对否定鉴定案例的一致性被归类为较差。数据表明，由经验丰富的齿科学家进行死后和生前X光片比对得出的牙齿鉴定是有效、准确且可靠的。
