Dental Profiling- A Boon for the Forensic World

A dental profile will typically provide information on the deceased's age, ancestry background, sex and socio-economic status. In some instances it is possible to provide additional information regarding occupation, dietary habits, habitual behaviours and occasionally on dental or systemic diseases. In many cases the tentative identification of the individual is unknown and therefore antemortem records cannot be located. In such a situation a dental profile of the individual is developed to aid the search for the individual's identity. With such a profile a forensic odontologist can identify and report indicators for age at time of death, race, and sex. In addition to these parameters the forensic dentist may be able to give more insight into the individual. This paper reviews for the non-expert, some of the additional personal information that can be derived from the teeth of the deceased, and which may assist in their ultimate identification.