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Forensic Odontology Research Paper

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Introduction
Forensic Odontology (Dentistry) is a new and growing branch of Forensic Medicine. The journey started from the mother of Roman Emperor Nero, in 49 AD who was identified and discovered by her discoloured front teeth, following her assassination. [1]
Forensic Odontology or Forensic Dentistry was defined by Keiser-Nielson in 1970 as “that branch of forensic science which in interest of justice deals with the proper handling and examination of dental evidence and with proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings”. It refers to areas of endeavour which can be used in a judicial setting and accepted by the court of law and the general scientific committee to isolate truth from untruth. [1]
The discovery of double helix structure …show more content…

The classic comparative dental identification makes use of both post-mortem and ante-mortem dental records for determining and excluding discrepancies. [1]
The tentative identification of an individual may be unknown in many cases as ante-mortem samples cannot be located. To aid the search of these cases dental profile of the individual is developed. A forensic odontologist can identify and report indicators for age, time of death, race, and sex with the help of these profiles. Dental identifications are cost effective and accurate and is the main identification method for criminal investigators in mass destruction, grossly decomposed and traumatised bodies where visual identification is neither possible nor …show more content…

But as this method requires a large amount of material and has low quality results, many cases could not be solved, particularly when only little biological material samples were collected in a crime scene investigation. The application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) widened the scope of Forensic genetics as it makes it possible to amplify small and traces amount of DNA samples. STR testing has revolutionised forensic case work on human identification and paternity tests. [2]
In addition newer DNA tools, including mitochondrial DNA and SNP (Single nucleotide polymorphism – replacement, insertions or deletions that occur at single position in the human genome) might be used when STR fails to yield a result or when only a partial profile is obtained for the size and condition of the sample. Poor quality DNA samples could be obtained from mass disasters, such as World Trade Centre attacks, airplane crashes, tsunamis, decomposing bodies etc. [2]
PCR was developed by Kary Mullis in 1983 and continues to be valuable tool in forensic DNA analysis. It is able to replicate specific nucleotide sequences from low levels of DNA or degraded

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