FORENSIC DENTAL RADIOLOGY: A REVIEW

Abstract

The word 'forensic' has been derived from the Latin word 'Forensis', which implies something pertaining to 'forum'. Forensic Medicine is the application of medical science to legal problems. It is typically involved in cases concerning blood relationship, mental illness, injury, or death resulting from violence. Autopsy is often used to determine the cause of death,

Forensic Odontology refer to the study of teeth or dentistry. "That branch of dentistry which, in the interest of justice, deals with the proper handling and examination of dental evidence, and with the proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings in order to assist law enforcement officers and in civil & criminal proceedings.

In addition to a clinical examination and the annotations on a patient's clinical file, the forensic dentist can make use of dento-maxillo-facial radiography. Forensic dental radiology deals with comparison of ante-mortem and post-mortem radiographs. When bodies are to be identified, radiographs are made of the deceased person and compared with any radiographs of the presumed individual when alive.

Radiographs are becoming more and more important in dental identification: as oral health is improving, oral diseases are regressing and consequently therapeutic features for comparison are decreasing.

The positions of the post-mortem skull relative to the radiographic machine and the film, as well as the exposure time, are the greatest problems faced by the forensic dentist. In view of this fact, some recognize that radiographic techniques used in vivo must be adapted.