Match Accuracy of Burned Teeth: A pilot study of allied dental professionals

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this pilot study was to assess allied dental professionals’ match accuracy of burned teeth; a skill required by disaster victim identification (DVI) team members.

Methods This cross-sectional study used a convenience sample of registered dental hygienists (RDH) (n=15) and dental assistants (DA) (n=15) to assess their match accuracy of burned teeth with simulated antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) images. Fifteen human teeth were heated at 400°C for 15 minutes. Prior to and following heat alteration, each tooth was photographed and radiographed. Images were presented to participants in randomized order, and they were instructed to correctly match them with the teeth. Each participant completed 60 matches for the 15 teeth with 1 set of pre- and post-burned photographs and 1 pre- and post-burned periapical (PA) radiographs. Following the match accuracy activity, participants completed an electronic questionnaire to report demographic data and indicate their perceptions of performed tasks.

Results A one-sided one-sample binomial proportion test revealed that on average, participants demonstrated more than 80% match accuracy of the teeth with AM and PM images (p=0.0003). When compared by profession, the average match accuracy was 82.1% for RDHs and 72.7% for DAs. A two-sided two-sample binomial proportion test revealed no statistically significant difference of performance between the professions (p=0.8505). A one-sided linear trend test indicated no significant association between match accuracy and years of work experience (p=0.2371).

Conclusion On average, participants demonstrated the ability to transfer professional skills to match burned teeth with simulated AM and PM images. Differences in professional background and years of work experience did not have a significant impact. More research is needed to best understand allied dental professionals’ transferrable DVI skills.