Utilization of forensic odontologic findings in solving the unsolved cases: A retrospective study Kengadaran Shivashankar1, John Joseph2, Anusha Divvi1,*, Kengadaran Sivabalakumaran3, Sekar Hariharan4, Sekar Hemachandran5 1Department of Public Heath Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry 2Department of Public Heath Dentistry, Assan Memorial Dental College, Chengalpet 3Department of Anaesthesia, Chengalpattu Government Medical College, Chengalpattu 4Student, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Bharat University, Puducherry 5Student, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry *Corresponding Author Dr. Divvi Anusha, M.D.S., (Senior Lecturer) Email: anushadivvi1991@gmail.com, Mobile: 8331849330
Online published on 10 August, 2020. Abstract Forensic dentistry or dental jurisprudence may be defined as the application of dental sciences to the administration of law. Forensic dentistry includes studying a lot of topics such as individual identification, mass identification, as well as bite mark analysis. Forensic odontology has gained more importance in western countries and is considered as reliable evidence in solving criminal cases. With increasing crime in India, as given by the National Crime Records Bureau over 6.4% each year, the numbers of studies are assessing the utilization of forensic odontological findings in solving criminal cases in India. A retrospective study was done in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu in December 2018. A well-structured, pre-tested performa was adopted from the study conducted by Senthil et al in the year 2012 and modification was done. After explaining the intent of the study, permission was obtained from the Director of forensic sciences department Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. Secondary data regarding the use of forensic odontological findings in solving criminal cases were collected from 2987 cases. The data were then entered into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Descriptive statistics were done using SPSS software (version 20). There were only 3 cases that have been solved using forensic odontology findings. Only antemortem and post-mortem reports were used in these cases. The duration of data relied upon was 1 to 3 years from the investigation. The victim's dentist was identified from the victim's relatives. The findings of the current study show under-utilization of forensic odontological findings in the investigation of the criminal case. Top Keywords Forensic dentistry, Criminal case, Person identification, Forensic odontology, Law. Top |