Knowledge, Awareness and Practices of Forensic Dentistry: A Questionnaire Study among Dental Personnel Practicing in Bhimavaram Town, South India Renuka Kucherlapati1, Leela Buddaraju1, Rajesh Nallakunta2, Veerakumari Merneedi3, Reddy Reddy Sudhakara4, Suryabharath Suribhotla5, Kumari M. Veera6,* 1BDS, Under Graduate Student, Vishnu Dental College, 2MDS, Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vishnu Dental College, 3Postgraduate, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vishnu Dental College, 4MDS, Professor and Head of Department Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vishnu Dental College 5BDS, Under Graduate Student, Vishnu Dental College 6Postgraduate, Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram *Corresponding Author: Dr. M. Veera Kumari, Address: Postgraduate, Oral Medicine and Radiology, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram e-mail: doctorkumari1989@gmail.com, Phone Numbers: +91-7416307669
Online published on 4 April, 2020. Abstract Aims The aim of study is to assess the knowledge and awareness on forensic odontology among dentists in Bhimavaram town Method and Material A structured questionnaire comprising of 14 close ended questions (Sharma et al 2015) with slight modifications, validated through a pilot survey was distributed among 100 dentists residing at Bhimavaram town and were assessed. The questions were about importance of dental records and their maintenance, identification of child abuse or bite marks, importance of dental witness in the court of law for person identification and interest among dentists to learn about forensic odontology. Results This present study showed that 90.9% MDS participants and 77.7% BDS participants were maintaining their dental records in their dental practice, though 94.5% MDS and 75.5% BDS were aware about forensic dental witness, only 1.8% of MDS participants were called by court of law for forensic evidence. Only 7.2% of MDS participants were trained and confident in handling forensic related cases. Conclusions The results show that knowledge and awareness about forensic dentistry among BDS and MDS individuals are in primitive stage. However very few members of participants were trained in forensic dentistry which suggests that practice of same is to be progressed in Bhimavaram town. Top Keywords Forensic Odontology, Dentists, Awareness, Knowledge, Dental record. Top |