Abstract
Aim & Objectives: To assess the awareness of patient’s dental record maintenance among BDS students and to evaluate their knowledge regarding the potential use of their maintained records in forensic identification.Materials and Method: Data was collected by means of a self administered questionnaire consisting of 24 closed ended questions, addressed on the awareness about patient’s dental record maintenance and its importance in forensic needs among 3rd, 4th year BDS students and interns of a private dental college.Results: 73.1% of the respondents were aware that dentists were legally bound to maintain records in India and 83.5% were aware that these could contribute towards forensic investigations. Most of the students were aware of how to maintain dental records in an institution. 67.4% of the study population felt the need to store records for a minimum of 5 years. 65-70% had knowledge regarding denture markers and role of implants in forensic identification. The most perceived barrier to good dental record keeping was lack of time according to most of the students.Conclusion: The survey revealed awareness on the importance of dental records in forensic identification among BDS students. Few areas showed inadequate knowledge, thus mandating an utmost need to train dental students in this field. Newer methods like denture marking and Aadhar number in corpoartion in prostheses should be given importance.
Highlights
Personal identification is of paramount importance in forensic investigations, and this can be done on the basis of the theory that “all individuals are unique and can Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, January-March 2020, Vol 14, No 1Dental records comprise of clinical notes, radiographs, plaster models, treatment done including serial numbers of prosthesis.[5]
Generating detailed accurate patient records, maintaining, storing and retrieving them should be a crucial part of practice and this habit should be inculcated during the professional training of dental students
Hannah et al performed a cross-sectional institution based survey among undergraduate dental students and evaluated their knowledge, attitude and practice of forensic odontology. They reported more than 80% of students had good knowledge about forensic odontology, 82% of their participants pointed their source of knowledge to be from lectures and workshops in college and 83% of their students were interested to undergo formal training in the field.[9]
Summary
Personal identification is of paramount importance in forensic investigations, and this can be done on the basis of the theory that “all individuals are unique and can Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, January-March 2020, Vol 14, No 1Dental records comprise of clinical notes, radiographs, plaster models, treatment done including serial numbers of prosthesis.[5]. Generating detailed accurate patient records, maintaining, storing and retrieving them should be a crucial part of practice and this habit should be inculcated during the professional training of dental students. Keeping all these facts in mind, this study was conducted to assess the awareness of patient’s dental record maintenance among BDS students, and to evaluate their knowledge regarding the potential use of the maintained dental records in forensic human identification
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