Forensic odontology for Dental professionals

Forensic is derived from the Latin word forum which means ‘court of law’. Odontology refers to the study of teeth. Forensic odontology therefore has been defined by the Federation Dentaire International (FDI) as ‘that 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 odontology or forensic dentistry is one of the most unexplored and intriguing branches of forencis sciences. It primarily deals with identification based on recognition of unique features present in an individual’s dental structures. Forensic dentistry plays a major role in identification in man made of natural disasters – events that result in multiple fatalities that may not be identifiable through conventional methods such as fingerprints.