Utilization of forensic odontologic findings in solving the unsolved cases: A retrospective study

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.