The off-season of dental cementum investigations. A critical appraisal of season-of-death prediction in medico-legal investigations

• DOI: 10.1016/j.aolm.2024.200519
• Publication Date: 2024-08-30T19:01:20Z
• Authors: Benoit Bertrand; Ahmad Kaddoura; Eugenia Cunha; Anne Bécart; Didier Gosset; Valery Hédouin; Carina Marques
• Keywords: Seasonality; Dental cementum; Forensic anthropology

It has been suggested that death seasonality could be estimated based on the dark/bright appearance of outermost dental cementum deposit. The few existing studies show variable accuracy rates. question whether estimating season-of-death represents a realistic and achievable goal can arise. This work, software-assisted procedure direct human observation, aims to critically evaluate applicability estimate in forensic anthropology. sample consists 20 canines from individuals belonging 21st century Identified Skeletal Collection, University Coimbra, Portugal, with documented biodemographic data. Fifty percent died during summer 50% winter. Five non-decalcified 100 μm cross-sections per tooth were prepared, using standardized protocol. Images region interest, acellular cementum, captured, imported into FIJI/ImageJ software. Performance predictions was very low, accuracy, score 0.0000 for Matthews Correlation Coefficient, F1-score 61.5% Summer 28.6% Winter, obtained observer assessment. For software model, performance equally poor, 52.6% 0.0272 30.8% 64.0% Winter. work is relevance science community by demonstrating prospects limitations as method death.