Dental Forensics

1. FORENSIC ENGINEERING

2.  Forensic engineering is primarily concerned
with the link between engineering at law,
whether civil or criminal.
 The purpose of an investigation will usually
be to discover the cause of failure in a
particular material, component, product or
structure, and determine whether this failure
was accidental or intentional.

3.  It is similar to failure analysis and root
cause analysis with respect to the science
and engineering methodologies
employed.
 “Failure analysis” usually connotes the
determination of how a specific part or component
has failed.
 “Root cause analysis” on the other hand, places
more emphasis on the managerial aspects of
failures.

4. In essence, a forensic engineer:
 Assesses what was there before the event, and the
condition it was in prior to the event.
 Assesses what is present after the event, and in
what condition it is in.
 Hypothesizes plausible ways in which the pre-event
conditions can become the post-event conditions.
 Searches for evidence that either denies or
supports the various hypotheses.
 Applies engineering knowledge and skill to relate
the various facts and evidence into a cohesive
scenario of how the event may have occurred.