Indian Journal of Forensic Odontology

Special children pose challenge to pediatric dentist. Each child is different and the treatment plan should be suitably modified. Hearing impaired children present a unique communication hurdle, thus making both the dentist and child in an arduous situation. Health care provider’s especially pediatric dentist should be aware of the strategies to efficiently manage such children in dental clinic. Thus, this review in an attempt to provide an insight into the causes and types of hearing impaired children and blueprint to impart quality treatment to such children.

Forensic odontology is proper handling, examination, and evaluation of dental evidences for people. The dental evidences are used for identification of a person to whom they may belong. The individual set of teeth which can be traced back to established dental records existing with the dental specialists are the highlight of forensic odontology as this can be helpful in finding missing individuals. The dental records in an Orthodontist’s office starting from case history form, dental casts and bite registration, various radiographs and imaging, photographsetc. can be used for comparative evaluation and are helpful in assessing rugae pattern, mandibular canine index, lip prints etc. and their superimposition. Race gender and age estimation are also possible with most of these records. Promoting pulpal stem cell banking can even aiding DNA analysis for personal identification.This review is intended to provide an outlook for orthodontists to understand the importance and value of the patient records, how they are utilized in the field of forensic odontology and their responsibility to society and remind them about their liability to provide ante mortem evidences i.e. dental records.

Forensic photography or crime scene photography is an art of producing a defined reproduction of crime scene or an accident scene for the benefit of court or to aid in investigation. Photography involves choosing of correct lighting, accurate angle of lenses and the techniques to applied . Thus, it requires an adequate knowledge and skill for producing the crime scene photography to produce in the court of law for further investigation

Introduction: Age estimation using dental findings has an important role in identification of an individual in forensics but its utilization is not well established. This study has been done to estimate the age using third molar in dental radiographs. Aim: To estimate the chronological age based on the eight stages of third molar development method by Demirjian et al. in Indian population and compare third molar development with age and between sex. Materials and Method: 294 digital panoramic radiographs of Indian population aged 7 to 25 years are retrospectively enroled and their Demirjian’s stages are recorded. Statistical analysis to determine comparison between the chronological age and age estimated using demirjian method are done. Results: Statistically significant difference were obtained in maxilla and mandible on both the sides in all the age groups which was revealing a decreasing trend as the age progresses. The age estimation using Demirjian method was almost same as the chronological age in group 16 to 20 years. Conclusion: Third molar development can be a useful tool in age estimation of an individual in disasters, catastrophes and for medico-legal purposes.