International Journal of Forensic Odontology

EDITORIAL
Year
: 2017  |  Volume : 2  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 1-

Current demands of forensic odontology


TN Uma Maheswari 
 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Correspondence Address:
T N Uma Maheswari
Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
India




How to cite this article:
Uma Maheswari T N. Current demands of forensic odontology.Int J Forensic Odontol 2017;2:1-1


How to cite this URL:
Uma Maheswari T N. Current demands of forensic odontology. Int J Forensic Odontol [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 29 ];2:1-1
Available from: https://www.ijofo.org/text.asp?2017/2/1/1/205256


Full Text

Forensic odontology is currently defined as forensic dentistry which is a branch in dentistry dealing with proper handling, examination, and evaluation of dental evidence, which will be then presented in the interest of justice. The word forensic is derived from Latin referring to forum to discuss legal matters. The main areas of forensic dentistry include personal identification, age estimation, and criminalization, bite mark and lip print analysis as well as dental malpractice.

The current scenario of forensic dentistry is that though there are many researchers working on various aspects of forensic odontology, applications of dental findings in personal identification still lack significant practical applications.

It is high time that the researchers in forensic odontology need to focus on standardization of procedures starting from ante mortem record documentation and use of dental radiographs in personal identification and age estimation.

Reliable and applicable fields in forensic dentistry alone need to be identified and further analyzed to standardize research in forensic dentistry.

Dental ethics and malpractice also need to be more focused in the field of forensic odontology and proper documentation of ante mortem records in all dental hospitals and institutions need to be emphasized.

Future research on cheiloscopy and bite mark analysis needs refinement to ensure its significance as personal identification tools.

Case documentation as well as dental evidence documentation needs to be regularized and standardized.

Digitalization of dental evidence is the current need to ensure proper data base for futuristic purpose for personal identification and criminalization.

Genomic analysis in forensics needs to be extensively studied as it may be the most reliable tool in personal identification.