Contributions of forensic dentistry regarding identification methods: literature review

Abstract

Objective: to describe the main methods of body identification performed by dental professionals in criminal investigation, as well as to discuss the importance of archiving patient protocol data, as they may support criminal investigations. Materials and Methods: literature review counting on one book, code of dental ethics and articles published in English and Portuguese available in the PubMed database, Virtual Health Library, Scielo and Google Scholar, published from 2010 to 2019. Results: Forensic dentist is the specialized dental surgeon, legally qualified to perform criminal body examinations focused mainly on the head and neck area, who performs clinical activities and autopsies in the service of justice. Studies show that 70% of human identifications performed worldwide are made by these professionals, proving effectiveness and easy accomplishment. Due to the resistance of the dental element, in addition to the cranial aspects, there are several methods that can be used to identify cadavers, such as through DNA pulp, palatal roughness, sex determination by cranial characteristics, medical history, among others. Conclusion: it is possible to observe that forensic dentistry plays a significant role in post mortem recognition, making the performance of this professional indispensable in human identification. Additionally, there are numerous methods of identifying a body that can be applied by forensic dentistry. Thus, it is essential that ante-mortem records be properly archived and archived, as they can support the identification of a body