Role of Odontology in Forensic Medicine: An Update

The role of dental characteristics to identify deceased individuals is well recognized since late nineteenth century. This application of dental science for the identification of the deceased had originally been driven by external agencies, for instance police; coroner's and courts instead of the dental community. However once the value of forensic odontology was recognized by dentists, it has evolved into a specialty within. Today forensic odontology is considered specialized and reliable method for identification of the deceased, particularly in disaster situations.