"Certainly going back to Sherlock Holmes we have a tradition of forensic science featured in detective stories.”- Jeffrey Deaver. With time, forensic dentistry have come along, shaking hands with forensic science and gradually taking an important position in the field of forensic science. Forensic odontology is the branch of dentistry which, in the interest of justice, deals with the proper handling and examination of dental evidence, and with the proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings. Forensic odontologists delve into: identifying unknown human remains, victim’s identification in mass disaster, electing the picture of life style and diet of skeletal remains at forensic and archaeological sites, assessing sex of skeletal remains, age estimation of both living and deceased, analysis and identification of bite marks at crime scenes. It is the branch of science that applies dental knowledge in civil and criminal investigations. Along with other healthcare providers, dentists encounter cases of injuries which could be non-accidental. Detection, interpretation and management are important from a legal and humanitarian point of view. Dentists should be aware of the legal impact those cases have, and should refer them to the appropriate authorities for suitable action. Today we consider forensic odontology to be a specialised and reliable method of identification of the deceased, particularly in multiple fatality incidents. Forensic Odontology has established itself as an important, often indispensable, in medicolegal cases, in particular for identification of the dead.

1. Forensic & We-The
Dentists
PRESENTED BY: MADHURIMA KUNDUGUIDED BY: Dr. GOUTHAM B.S.
READER
Department Of Public Health Dentistry
Dr. SUJATHA RAMACHANDRA.
SENIOR LECTURER.
Department Of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology
KALINGA INSTITUTE OF DENTAL SCIENCES
BHUBANESWAR
ODISHA

2. 1. DEFINITION
2. HISTORY
3. DENTAL REMAINS: Enamel
Dentin
Pulp
Cementum
Maxilla & Mandible
4. CONCLUSION
5. REFERENCES

3. Branch of dentistry which, in the interest of justice, deals with the
proper handling and examination of dental evidence, and with the
proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings. –(Federation
Dentaire Internationale)

4. The first forensic odontologist in the United States was Dr. Paul Revere
who identified the extremed body of Dr. Joseph Warren, a revolutionary
the British in 1775 through a bridge of silver and ivory that he had
constructed two years previously
The first treatise on forensic odontology was written by Dr. Oscar Amoedo
in 1898 & he is known as the Father of Forensic Odontology
Dr. Ashith B. Acharya, from India is an internationally acclaimed
renowned forensic dentist

5. ENAMEL
DENTIN
PULP
CEMENTUM
Maxillary bone

6. The aspartic acid in human tooth enamel shows increasing racemization with age.
The rate constant for the racemization reaction of aspartic acid in human tooth
enamel was found to be 8.29 X 10(-4) yr-1. This rate constant suggests that in any
protein with a long in vivo lifetime, D-aspartic acid will accumulate with age (about
8% of total aspartic acid in enamel will be the D-enantiomer after 60 years). Thus,
racemization may play some role in the aging process. Aspartic acid racemization in
tooth enamel also provides a biochronological tool for assessing the age of living
mammals.
E
N
A
M
E
L

8. CALIPER BASED DIGITAL METHOD
D
E
N
T
I
N
Assessment of age from the dentition
constitutes an important step in constructing
an identity profile of the decedent. Dentinal
translucency is one of the morpho-histologic
parameters considered best for dental age
estimation, not only in terms of accuracy but
also simplicity

10. P
U
L
P
Recently, teeth have been the subject of DNA
studies as the dental hard tissue which physically
encloses the pulp and offers an anatomical
configuration of great durability.
Moreover, when morphologically evaluated,
even a single tooth provides valuable information
regarding the individual to whom the tooth
belongs.

11. Soft tissue within coronal and radicular pulp chamber
consists of odontoblasts, fibroblasts, endothelial cells,
peripheral nerves and nucleated components of blood,
which are rich sources of DNA.
Extraction of DNA from the human body remains
a difficult task and depends upon numerous
environmental factors and extraction procedures.
DNA from hard tissues like bone and teeth are
most stable even after putrefaction of bodies.

12. C
E
M
E
N
T
U
M
CEMENTUM ANNULATIONS
Tooth cementum annulation, the microscopic method for the
determination of an individual’s age, gives results that are highly
correlated with the chronological age of an individual. Nevertheless, this
method is still rarely used for age estimation in archaeological
populations.
The use of cementum in the
determination of age in humans begins
with the measuring of the total width
of the layer of cementum before the
lines are counted.

13. Depending on the individual’s age, the thickness of
Acellular Extrinsic Fiber Cementum ranges from 20 to
250mm.
Alternating light and dark rings are subject to seasonal
rhythms, which most likely occur under the influence of
several factors such as a dose of UV-radiation, climatic
conditions, different qualities of diet and the hormonal
status of the individuals.

14. With the age changes, there
has been a lot of changes in
the growth of maxilla and
mandible.
In children before tooth eruption, the
mental foramen is somewhat closer to
the alveolar margin; during the eruption
period, the mental foramen descends to
half way between the upper and lower
margins and in adults with the teeth
preserved, and it is somewhat closer to
the inferior border.
With loss of teeth and bone resorption
the mental foramen moves upwards
closer to the alveolar border.

15. The tooth being the integral part of the
body, the hardest substance to endure
all types of environmental conditions
has importance of each of its parts.
Forensic Odontology is a vital and integral part of
forensic science that is most widely utilized for
identification of the living and deceased persons. In
India, qualified forensic odontologists are very few.
So, an attempt should be made to reinforce
awareness in dental practitioners about the role of
dentists in person identification to awaken the
social responsibility of maintaining dental records of
all patients.

16. 1. B.C. Manjunath, B.R. Chandrasekhar, Melkundi Mahesh, R.M.Vatchala
Rani. DNA Profiling and forensic dentistry-a review of the recent
concepts and trends. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 2011:
Volume 18(2011).
2. T. Hasan. Characteristics Of The Mental Foramen In Different
Populations. The Internet Journal of Biological Anthropology, 2010:
Volume 4 Number 2.
3. David K Whittaker. Research in Forensic Odontology. Annals of the
Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1982: Volume 64.
4. Denice Higgins, Jeremy J.Austin. Teeth as a source of DNA for forensic
identificationof human remains: A review. Science and Justice, 2013.
5. Marija B.Radovic. Aging in the Danube Gorges population-Tooth
Cementum Annulation Method. Original Research Article.

17. THANK YOU