Studies on Prevalence of Accessory Tooth Cusps in Some Ethnic Populations of Northern India and their Forensic Relevance Puri Pooja1, Shukla S K2, Haque I3 1Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Forensic Science, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Professor and Head, Amity Institute of Forensic Science, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India 3Deputy Director, Directorate of Forensic Science Services, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, CGO, Complex, New Delhi, India Online published on 8 February, 2019. Abstract A dental cusp is a prominence on the crown of the tooth and is present normally on posterior teeth. This study was carried out to determine the frequency of different accessory cusps, their sites and presence of unilateral/bilateral cusps among males and females of three distinct ethnic populations of North India-Brahmin, Rajput and Muslim with reverence to their forensic utility. The frequency analysis revealed that the male had higher presence of accessory cusps than the females, while the communities showed minor variation in the accessory cusps. The Brahmins had the most bilateral cusps (15.3%) followed by Rajputs (14.4%) and Muslims (8.6%) the least. Further, the Carabelli's cusps were found with highest frequency than the talon cusps which are the rarest type of cusps in these communities. However, the findings suggest that the accessory dental cusps may provide the clue the identity of the individuals in the absence of any other physiognomic characteristics. Top Keywords Accessory Tooth Cusps, Prevalence, North India, Dental anomalies. Top |