Forensic odontology is the application of dentistry in the administration of law and promotion of justice by proper handling, examination and evaluation of dental evidence. The evidence derived from teeth can be used to determine the age of a child or adolescent as a proof for undertaking them into juvenile custody and also used to identify the person to whom the teeth belong, which can be done using either dental records or ante-mortem photographs. Periodontics is a clinical dental specialty used to identify the morphology and pathology of periodontium of an individual. There are also studies wherein the knowledge of periodontics is used to estimate the age by determining the level of attachment of periodontal ligament, root transparency and root length. The aim of this article is to highlight the contribution of a periodontist towards the field of forensics to unravel various crime scenes. The use of periodontal tissues along with saliva and implants have shown to play a critical role in identification. Thus, the dental professionals play a significant role in keeping accurate dental records and providing all the necessary information to the legal authorities so that they may recognize malpractice, negligence, fraud or abuse, and identify unknown humans.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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