Forensic Odontology

Forensic Odontology, or forensic dentistry forms a combination of art and science of dental medicine and was defined by Keiser-Neilson in 1970 (2) as the proper handling, examination and evaluation of dental evidence which are presented in the interest of justice.In general, forensic dentists are responsible for practices covering broader areas which includes Identification of human fragmentary measures, identification in mass disasters, assessment of bite marks and injuries, age estimation and criminal liability (1)

Mass disaster occurs by natural events such as flooding, earthquake or volcanic eruption or caused by human activities such as war, boundary disputes .Following these disasters sex appraisal is the foremost stage in reconstructing

It is an important parameter in forensic identification. The morphological differences of the teeth can be applied to identify the gender from dental remains (7). Identification of sex have always better edge than age, wherever it is possible as the investigation is simplified because then only missing persons of one sex need to be considered.

Pelvis and scull bones are used for sex determination other than teeth based on skeleton.The measurement of humerus and femur head diameter also forms other materials that enables highly credible sex determination (2,3). The major disadvantage with respect to identification based on bones is the bones of one person cannot be found during exhumations of bodies from mass graves, especially where multiple graves are made and the remains are quite mixed, and same as that occurs in archaeological excavations where the materials occur in same place comes from different time periods. Thus the teeth and the scull remains the real material for definite identification (11) DNA analysis, has several disadvantages in terms of its high cost, lack of materials and inconvenience cases of mass

The other major advantage with respect to teeth on comparison with any other body part or material is it requires to collect them inless time and are non-invasive and easy to perform.(7).Among the teeths, mandibular canines have a better mean age of eruption from 10 to87 years and are also less affected than other teeth by periodontal diseases. These teeths form the last teeth to be extracted with respect to age. The other potential option for identification could be the Canine teeth as studies provies them better likely to survive severe trauma such as air disasters, hurricanes or conflagration. These advantages with canine teeth indicates that canines can be considered as the 'key teeth' for personal identification