Forensic dentistry- A deep dive in the drop

Abstract

Teeth can be put to a lot more use than just understanding and evolving dentistry. Teeth can withstand tremendous pressure and extreme conditions providing for an incomparable piece of evidence. The comparison of the ante-mortem and the post-mortem evidences can be used to establish an identity of the required personnel. The oral cavity provides an excellent field to work on when it comes to human identification, age estimation and sex determination. The Bichat’s fat pad, lips, maxillary bones and the teeth protect the palatal rugae hence making them resistant to decomposition and incineration. The palatal rugae are characteristic to every individual. Just like the fingerprints, lip prints are permanent and constant for every individual. Bite marks can be found either on the attacker or the perpetrator. Both lip prints and bite marks account for important evidence for human identification found at the site of crime in the cases of sexual abuse. As the oral cavity serves as a useful source of DNA, latter can be extracted from saliva, the oral mucosal cells and the teeth. This DNA is used for PCR analysis. Dental structures can prove as useful indictors in determining the individual’s chronological age by analysing the tooth development. The sexual dimorphism elicited by various teeth of the human dentition play a major role in sex determination of the individual. The various recent advances like- facial reconstruction, dental identification methods, tongue prints, ameloglyphics make forensic dentistry a convenient and an effective tool in human identification. Forensic dentistry should not only be restricted to the dentists but various team involved in investigations and justice should also be exposed to this arena to avoid any biased and negligent decision making.