Forensic Odontology Essay

Forensic odontology requires knowledge of both dentistry and the law. Practitioners in this branch of science need to have a solid understanding of dentistry and how it can be helpful in a medico-legal investigation. A forensic odontology practitioner needs to have an understanding in areas including injury interpretation, evidence interpretation, dental anthropology, imaging technology, mortuary practice and the art of medico-legal report writing. The forensic odontology practitioner must have
a. Understanding of the core elements of forensic odontology which are required for a forensic odontological investigation
b. Understanding of the fundamentals of practice and protocol followed in a mortuary which includes ethical treatment of the deceased, dental examination
Skills to put to use CT technology and software systems in post-mortem examination whenever necessary.
g. Good knowledge on the art of report writing for medico-legal purposes as applicable to the branch of forensic odontology
Forensic odontologists may be required
i. To help in identification of human remains that cannot be identified using face recognition, fingerprints or other methods-
This can be done by two methods which are mainly- comparative method of dental identification and the other is by post-mortem dental profiling.
In the comparative method of dental identification, the post-mortem dental records are compared with the ante-mortem dental records of the concerned individual.Hence, the forensic odontologist needs to have a thorough knowledge of the basics of dentistry.
The other method which is post-mortem dental profiling can be used when ante-mortem records are not available for comparison. The post-mortem dental profiling consists of giving information on the victim or deceased person’s age, gender, socio-economic status, race, occupation, dietary habits, dental and systemic diseases by careful examination of the skeletal or dental tissue remains at the site of crime or