Forensic Odontology PDF

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY ( Reviewer ) SCOPE OF PURPOSE:  Probable identification: high level of concordance  Management and maintenance of dental records that...

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY ( Reviewer ) SCOPE OF PURPOSE:  Probable identification: high level of concordance  Management and maintenance of dental records that among datas, may lack radiograph support. comply with legal requirements  Presumptive (possible) identification: enough  Identification of human remains by comparing information may be missing from either source. antemortem and postmortem dental information.  Insufficient identification: insufficient supportive  Collection and analysis of patterned marks (bite marks) evidence. on inanimate material or injured tissue.  Exclusion of identification: clearly inconsistent.  Recognition of the signs and symptoms of human abuse.  Assessment of the age of the person FORENSIC DENTIST ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:  Determination of sex of a person  Identification of found human remains.  Identification of mass fatalities. REASON FOR IDENTIFICATION OF HUMAN  Assessment of case abuse. RAMAINS  Age estimation.  Civil case involving malpractice.  Criminal: Typically an investigation to a crime death cannot begin until the victim has been positively MEDICO-LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE OF identified. ONDOTOLOGY  Marriage: Individuals from many religious backgrounds cannot remarry unless their partners are confirmed deceased.  Most sophisticated method of comparative  Monetary: The payment of pension, life insurance and identification except dactylography. other benefits relies upon positive confirmation of  Teeth are useful in estimating the age of an individual. death.  Sex and blood group can be determined from cells of  Burial: Many religions require that a positive pulp cavity. identification be made prior to burial in geographical  Criminals can be identified through the bite marks left sites either in human tissue or in food stuffs.  Social: Society's duty to preserve human rights and dignity beyond life begins with identity.  Closure: The identification of individuals missing for FINGERPRINTS VS. ODONTOLOGY prolonged periods can bring sorrowful relief to family members. Trait Teeth Fingerprints BASIS FOR DENTAL INDENTIFICATION Burns Fire resistant Destroyed by fire  Human Dentition is never same in any two Individuals. Putrefaction No changes Subject to  The morphology and arrangement of teeth vary from putrefaction person to person.  Dental identity -″total of all characteristics of the teeth changes Compatible Unchanged and their associated structures which, while not inconsistencies individually unique, when considered together provide a unique totality”. Proof No acknowledged Well established  Teeth are relatively resistant to environmental insults criteria for proof. crieria. after death. Records Useless without Possible use of records possessions. PROBLEMS WITH DENTAL IDENTIFICATION 1. Absence of ante-mortem records. GAIT 2. Absence of acquired dental tracts for identification. 3. Limitations for storing dental records for certain period.  It is the manner of walking in a person 4. Poor quality dental records.  Gait may be altered by an accident or by design. 5. In post mortem situation, all of the teeth may not be  Any identification based on recollection of physical recovered as a result of post mortem trauma or loss of characteristics of person in question by friends or Pdl. relatives is unreliable. 6. Fire can result in irreversible changes to restorations and teeth which can reduce the amount of information available for comparison. DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAIT  Ataxic gait - a gait in which the foot is raised high and DIFFERENT RESULTS AND CONCLUSION forward and then suddenly dropped down on the floor.  Cerebellar gait - a swaying or staggering manner of walking like that of a drunken person.  Positive identification: sufficient uniqueness among  Cow’s gait - a manner of walking due to knock knee the comparable items. like that of the cow.  Paratic gait - a manner of walking in which the feet and legs are held wide apart and then moves forward with short steps and with slight or no bending of the knee and foot.  Spastic gait - a gait of a person like that of a robot wherein the legs are held together and move forward with short steps and with slight or no bending of the knee or foot.  Wadding gait - a gait resembling the duck characterized by swaying movement of the buttock in walking.  Frogs gait - a manner of walking resembling that of a frog characterized by hopping from one position to another.